Midfielder Hoang Duc gives good news to U23 Vietnam; Popov creates confusion, wants to fight with Mr. Park

Midfielder Hoang Duc brings good news to U23 Vietnam

Midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc returned to training after 1 day of muscle strain and U23 Vietnam has the strongest squad to prepare for the match against U23 Myanmar.

On the afternoon of May 11, U23 Vietnam had a training session at Viet Tri secondary field to prepare for the match against U23 Myanmar on May 13.

Nguyen Hoang Duc.

Midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc has returned to training after 1 day of muscle strain and needs the support of doctor Choi Ju Young.

Good news forCoach Park Hang-seoand his colleagues are currently U23 Vietnam has full strength, no players are injured. Nguyen Hoang Duc will most likely still be in the starting lineup in the match U23 Vietnam vs U23 Myanmar.

Currently, U23 Vietnam is temporarily ranked 3rd in Group A with 4 points after 2 matches, but has played 1 match less than the second-placed team U23 Philippines and has a lower secondary index.

Popov creates a smokescreen, wants to fight with Mr. Park

After two matches that felt like death and resurrection, U23 Myanmar is sitting comfortably on top of the table, pushing the two championship candidates Vietnam and Indonesia down.

Hard-fought victory over East Timor 3-2 in the final seconds of 5 minutes of extra time, then a thrilling comeback to win over the Philippines 3-2 after being down 2-1... the image of Myanmar coach Velizar Popov and his team is saved in coach Park Hang-seo's notebook, but decoding this team that specializes in causing surprises is not simple.

In the press conference after the hard-fought victory over the Philippines, coach Popov, instead of talking about his top position, turned his attention to the upcoming opponent, the host Vietnam. He said with certainty: "Vietnam has more than 99% chance of reaching the semi-finals!"

Myanmar is at the top of Group A, Vietnam has more than 99% chance, there is a contradiction between reality and Mr. Popov's assertion because to enter the semi-finals, Vietnam must beat Myanmar and cannot stumble.

The Philippines team could figure out Vietnam's moves but could not decode Mr. Popov's students. This shows that Myanmar is very upset. They have a very strange attitude in competing at the 31st SEA Games. Not bad, but they have to win hard, win dramatically. They struggled with the underdog East Timor, then were tormented by the Philippines, but the final result until the final whistle was a thrilling 3-2 victory.

In the press conference, it was easy to see that Mr. Popov was politely "leaving the door" for Vietnam to enter the semi-finals, but he really wanted his students to have a third victory to secure a place in the semi-finals. Myanmar, from the national team to the U-23 level, have never been amateurs, playing silly football. But their last two victories were half killer, half easy. Easily conceding goals, easily missing many opportunities, but the ending was still the killer with an unpredictable face.

Facing Myanmar, that will be an important and pivotal match for coach Park Hang-seo and his team.

At the 2019 SEA Games three years ago, coach Velizar Popov led his team to the semi-finals and won a bronze medal with a deep, very annoying style of play. Of these, more than half of the squad played at the 31st SEA Games, but in the past 180 minutes, they had moments of inexperience and moments of inexperience.

Popov is a very strange coach, he knows how to "tighten the muscles" of the kings of the field so that his students are not oppressed. He is also famous for being able to put his opponents in the clouds to achieve his goals.

Facing Myanmar, it will be an important and pivotal match for Coach Park Hang-seo and his team. In the past, Coach Popov has repeatedly deciphered the playing style ofU23 Vietnam, especially before the U23 Asian qualifiers where the two teams are in the same group.

Mr. Popov understands that Vietnam has passed the Indonesian gate and had some problems in the draw with the Philippines but is a very dangerous opponent. Meanwhile, Myanmar has two first victories at the top of the table but their path still has two tough hurdles: Vietnam and Indonesia.

Mr. Park realized after the draw with the Philippines that he would have to have a strategy against opponents who were pouring concrete to draw points.

U23 Malaysia coach: "U23 Vietnam is the strongest in group A"

Coach Brad Maloney of U23 Malaysia gave compliments when asked about U23 Vietnam and the quality in Group A, men's football SEA Games 31.

On the afternoon of March 11, U23 Malaysia had the second match in Group B, men's football SEA Games 31 against U23 Laos. Without much difficulty, coach Brad Maloney's students defeated their opponents with a score of 3-1 thanks to a double from Luqman Hakim (36', 68') and Bashah (43'). On the other hand, Laos only had an honorary goal from Phithack in the 85th minute.

Coach Brad Maloney.

U23 Malaysia coach Brad Maloney said: “U23 Malaysia did not prepare well but played well and improved with each match”. The coach also expressed his satisfaction with Luqman Hakim, a star player playing in Europe: “He played excellently, had a dedicated spirit, controlled the ball well, and had a great influence on his teammates”.

Evaluating Group A and especially U23 Vietnam, Coach Brad Maloney commented: “U23 Vietnam is the team with the best quality and has many opportunities to continue. They are the strongest team in Group A. U23 Myanmar also impressed me but don’t forget Indonesia. In general, Group A is all quality and they have shown their level of football.”

Vietnam women's team receives large bonus after coming from behind to defeat Philippines

The Vietnamese women's team received large bonuses from Quang Ninh province and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) after their impressive victory over the Philippines women's team.

In the opening match of the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese women's team won 2-1 against the Philippines despite being behind. Witnessing the impressive performance of coach Mai Duc Chung and his team, the leaders of Quang Ninh province and VFF met to congratulate the team on their victory and gave them bonuses.

The joy of victory of the Vietnamese women's team players.

Specifically, the leaders of Quang Ninh province awarded the Vietnam Women's Team 200 million VND and the VFF awarded 500 million VND.

After the victory over the Philippines, the Vietnamese women's team will face Cambodia on May 14. This is an underrated opponent, so coach Mai Duc Chung's students have the right to think about a victory with a difference in score to confirm the top position in the group.