U22 Vietnam - U22 Timor Leste: 3 points and 3 goals

(Baonghean.vn) - 'The goal of coach Huu Thang and his team in the first match against Timor Leste is nothing other than 3 points with a clear victory, few cards and no injuries' - Commentator Dang Gia Man firmly affirmed.

Coach Huu Thang and his team's dream of winning the 29th SEA Games gold medal will begin with their opponent U22 Timor Leste. This is the opponent that Coach Huu Thang and his team defeated 4-0 less than a month ago at Thong Nhat Stadium in the 'water battle' in the 2018 U23 Asian qualifiers.

After the match, Coach Kim Shinhwan boldly declared that "the next time we meet (ie SEA Games 29 - PV) the situation will be different, when U22 Timor Leste has many young and improving players". But in fact, Coach Kim Shinhwan's young players with an average age of 21, even 2 players are only 17, will hardly be able to do anything great against Vietnam.

Coach Kim Shinhwan declared that "the next meeting (ie SEA Games 29 - PV) the situation will be different, when U22 Timor Leste has many young and improving players". Photo: Internet

Which team?

U22 Vietnam just had 2 convincing victories against Mokpo City (4-1) and Busan FC (6-1), opponents on par with Timor Leste. Looking at the team's formation in the practice match, we can somewhat guess that Coach Huu Thang will play an attacking game with 2 strikers Cong Phuong and Ha Duc Chinh in a 4-4-2 formation.

Cong Phuong, who scored twice against his opponents in the U23 Asian qualifiers, naturally took the lead. Ha Duc Chinh, who had an impressive performance in Korea, will be selected alongside his senior from Nghe An. Fans are confident that this duo will score against goalkeeper Fagio in the first 30 minutes of the match to break the deadlock.

Remember, in the U23 Asian qualifiers, Kim Shin-hwan and his team drew with U22 Korea, which has a strong attack. This reflects that U22 Timor Leste has a decent defense, although the attack is not outstanding. Once they know the strengths and weaknesses of U22 Vietnam, they can completely create a difficult match for Huu Thang and his team.

The U22 Vietnam defense will appear with the quartet Van Thanh, Tien Dung, Van Khanh, Van Hau. When Minh Long is being treated for an injury, Tien Dung is the only choice for the goalkeeper position. Center back Van Khanh and goalkeeper Tien Dung are the weak points of the defense and are in the sights of coach Kim Shin-hwan and Portela, Viegas, Gumario.

This season, Malaysia often has rain, Tuan Anh's physical condition has not fully recovered, so Duy Manh and Xuan Truong will likely play. The two wings will be Van Toan and Hong Duy, a lineup with 5/11 HAGL players will play this afternoon. When there is a goal, names like Quang Hai, Dong Trieu, Tuan Anh, Dinh Trong and Thanh Binh, depending on the situation, will be put on the field. It is very likely that the coaching staff will experiment with the familiar 4-1-4-1 style of play after taking the lead, requiring more ball-holding players in the middle of the field.

Courage of Huu Thang

Vietnam men's football has never won a SEA Games gold medal, although we have reached the finals three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2009). According to statistics from Nghe An Newspaper, Vietnam has never reached the SEA Games men's football finals with any domestic coach. In a total of three times reaching the finals and finishing second, Vietnam football has been led by foreign coaches, namely Alfred Riedl (2003, 2005) and Henrique Calisto (2009).

The U22 Vietnam players have much more experience than the U22 Timor players. Photo: Internet

In 2007, when coach Mai Duc Chung took charge, U23 Vietnam only ranked 4th. Most recently, in 2013, U23 Vietnam under the leadership of coach Hoang Van Phuc even had to leave right after the group stage. This will certainly put some pressure on Huu Thang at this year's SEA Games. But we believe that this Nghe An man will know how to overcome difficulties to meet the expectations of his fans.

AT