U19 Vietnam vs U19 Thailand in the final

Defeating host U19 Laos 4-0 in the semi-finals, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team won the right to play in the final of the U19 Southeast Asian tournament with U19 Thailand on September 4.

Vietnam U19 entered the semi-final match with great confidence because before participating in the U19 Southeast Asian tournament, they had easily defeated Laos U19 in two friendly matches in Hanoi (3-1 and 6-0). Things were even more favorable when in the second minute, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team scored the opening goal. Duc Chinh, the striker who has been criticized for missing too many opportunities in the group stage, made a clever fake pass, creating an opportunity for Minh Di to make a tricky shot that sent the ball close to the post to open the score.

However, after conceding an early goal, U19 Laos rose up and played very impressively. The enthusiastic cheers from tens of thousands of home fans helped coach Phan Ton Loi and his team, who was sent by Doan Nguyen Duc to lead Hoang Anh Attapeu Club in the Lao National Championship, play explosively against an opponent who was considered "superior". The home team repeatedly penetrated the U19 Vietnam defense and if goalkeeper Thanh Tuan had not had a brilliant match, they would have scored an equalizer.

U19 Vietnam is the only team in the U19 Southeast Asian tournament that has not conceded a goal. Photo: Trung Kinh

Thanh Tuan deserves to be called the hero of U19 Vietnam. In just four minutes (from 17 to 21), the goalkeeper of the PVF youth training center continuously defeated the striker duo Vilayphanh and Sophabmixay in a very disadvantageous face-to-face situation. In the 38th minute, he continued to make the Vietnamese fans present at the Lao national stadium stand up and applaud with an accurate reading of the situation, rushing out of the penalty area to clear the ball like goalkeeper Neuer of the German team to save the home team when his teammate missed a header.

The gap of one goal was too fragile. Therefore, during the break between the two halves, coach Hoang Anh Tuan asked his students to increase their attack power to widen the gap. Everything went smoothly for U19 Vietnam, just six minutes after the referee blew the whistle for the second half, they had a goal to double the gap. After Trong Hoa's through ball, Duc Chinh rushed down to make a pass to eliminate the captain Phommathep, kicking the ball against the crossbar and into the net, leaving goalkeeper Paseauth helpless.

U19 Vietnam is only one match away from the championship. Photo: Trung Kinh

In the group stage, Duc Chinh had no luck in scoring. Despite being given numerous opportunities by his teammates, the player from the PVF training center only scored two goals, one of which was from the 11m mark. However, in the semi-finals, Duc Chinh found his luck with the opponent's net again with a hat-trick against U19 Laos. After the goal to make it 2-0, the striker wearing the number 4 shirt continued to make goalkeeper Paseauth have to pick the ball out of the net in the 58th and 83rd minutes, rising to the top of the list of "Top scorers" of the U19 Southeast Asia tournament.

Defeating host U19 Laos 4-0, U19 Vietnam won the right to play in the final match. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team's opponent in the match taking place on September 4 is U19 Thailand, the team that defeated U19 Malaysia 5-0 in the first semi-final match.

Thailand U19 is in great form, winning all five matches. The team from the Golden Temple has the most effective attack in the tournament, scoring 23 goals. Meanwhile, Vietnam U19 has the best defense in the tournament, not once conceding a goal.

According to VNE