Midfielder Song Lam Nghe An shines, helping U20 Vietnam win big against U20 Hong Kong

Dinh Xuan Tien played with brilliant form, contributing to the big victory of U20 Vietnam. Photo: AFC

Entering the 2023 AFC U20 Championship qualifiers, Vietnam U20 is in Group F with Hong Kong U20, Timor Leste U20 and Indonesia U20. According to the tournament rules, 44 participating teams are divided into 10 groups, with 4 groups of 5 teams and 6 groups of 4 teams. At the end of the qualifying round, the 10 group winners and the 5 best second-placed teams will qualify for the 2023 AFC U20 Championship finals in Uzbekistan.

To gain the right to self-determination, U20 Vietnam needs to have a positive result against U20 Hong Kong. According to coach Dinh The Nam, there is very little information about the U20 Hong Kong team. The only data that the coaching staff of the Vietnamese team has is from the friendly match between this team and U20 Thailand. In that match, U20 Thailand easily won with a score of 2-0. Therefore, with their current strength, Mr. Dinh The Nam's students are considered to be a team with superior strength to their opponents.

In the starting lineup of U20 Vietnam in this match, there are 2 young players from Song Lam Nghe An, Ho Van Cuong and Dinh Xuan Tien. Having only been training with the team for less than 10 days, these 2 players are considered important links in the tactical scheme of coach Dinh The Nam.

As predicted by experts, U20 Vietnam entered the match as the favorite team. Coach Dinh The Nam's students completely dominated the game and organized many dangerous attacks on goalkeeper Pong's goal.

The clearest chance that U20 Vietnam created in front of U20 Hong Kong's goal came in the 15th minute of the match. Thanh Nhan boldly broke through on the left wing, entered the penalty area, before finishing low into the far corner of the opponent's goal. However, goalkeeper Pong played excellently and saved it.

The red team's playing style marked a big mark of two young players from Song Lam Nghe An. In particular, Dinh Xuan Tien showed the qualities of a key midfielder. The presence of the midfielder born in 2003 indirectly created many varied attacks for U20 Vietnam. And it was Dinh Xuan Tien who opened the score for U20 Vietnam in the 25th minute of the match. The goal came from a cross into the opponent's penalty area by Anh Tu. Xuan Tien quickly seized the opportunity to finish the shot into the Hong Kong net.

After the goal, U20 Vietnam continued to maintain the initiative and created many problems in front of Pong's goal. Before the end of the first 45 minutes of the match, Quoc Viet successfully executed a penalty to double the gap for U20 Vietnam.

U20 Vietnam's celebration. Photo: AFC

In the second half, Dinh Xuan Tien continued to show his excellent form when he scored a double of his own. The goal of the midfielder from Song Lam Nghe An came from a pass from the left wing by Bao Long. The player from Nam Dan had a neat first step control, before unleashing a tricky low shot, defeating goalkeeper Pong.

Less than 5 minutes later, Van Khang - a player on the national team, continued to score for coach Dinh The Nam's team.

In the 68th minute, Elisson Tsang scored a goal for U20 Hong Kong. But at the end of the match, Duc Anh sealed a 5-1 victory for U20 Vietnam. With this result, U20 Vietnam has a big advantage in the race for the top spot in Group F.