U23 Vietnam vs U23 Malaysia: Soon to win ticket to quarterfinals?

With the advantage of winning the opening match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team will have an easier time deploying a defensive counter-attacking style of play in the upcoming match. The 56-year-old coach will still use the familiar 3-4-3 formation but will make some personnel adjustments to help U23 Vietnam play better.

First in defense, Nguyen Manh Hung will be one of three central defenders of the Vietnam U23 Team. In the opening match, the central defender of Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc Club also played very well when he was put on the field in the second half, contributing to the home team's 3-1 victory. Manh Hung, along with Le Nguyen Hoang and Luong Duy Cuong, will create a steel wall in front of goalkeeper Quang Van Chuan's goal.

This trio of central defenders will have to be wary of U23 Malaysia's long passes. The destination of these long passes is attacking players like Luqman Hakim, Fergus Tierney or Aliff Izwan. These are all players with very good speed and running ability. However, the effectiveness of U23 Malaysia's final coordination situations is not high. Therefore, as long as the defenders of U23 Vietnam play focused and cover each other well, they will be able to neutralize the strikers of coach Juan Torres Garrido's team.

Along with that, there will be personnel adjustments on the wing. This adjustment is aimed at ensuring the players' physical strength and enhancing their defensive ability. It is very likely that defender Hong Phuc will be used on the right wing. The player of The Cong Viettel will be the one tasked with following the conductor Luqman Hakim of the U23 Malaysia side. Meanwhile, Khuat Van Khang will still be the one playing on the opposite wing.

The central midfielders of U23 Vietnam will still be Vo Hoang Minh Khoa and Nguyen Thai Son. These are the players who played very well in the first match. The physical strength and good fighting ability of this duo will greatly support the defense as well as ensure a good game for U23 Vietnam.

On the attacking front, the trio of Van Truong, Van Tung and Nguyen Hoang will be the ones chosen. In which, Van Truong will be the one playing lower to act as a bridge between the back line and the 2 strikers above. This is a task that the midfielder of Hanoi Club did very well in the opening match, Van Truong's smooth touches helped open up opportunities for U23 Vietnam. Therefore, in the upcoming match, Van Truong will still be an important card in the tactical diagram of coach Hoang Anh Tuan.

In addition to the attacking task, the players on the U23 Vietnam attack line will also actively participate in pressing whenever the opponent has the ball. This will cause a lot of difficulties for U23 Malaysia in implementing the playing style and can cause the opponent to make mistakes. In the first match, both goals conceded by Malaysia came from individual mistakes after the opponent's quick pressure. Therefore, this will be the basis for U23 Vietnam to apply in the upcoming match.

One thing that U23 Vietnam needs to improve is the connection between the players. Due to the short time of concentration, the understanding between the young players is not really good. A typical example is the unfortunate collision between Khuat Van Khang and Nguyen Van Tung in the first half or the lack of observation of Nguyen Minh Quang in the second half. Hopefully, in the upcoming match, our players will play more cohesively, understand each other better to create an even stronger team.

In the last 4 times the two teams met, U23 Vietnam were the winners. In particular, in the semi-finals of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team won against U23 Malaysia with a score of 4-1. With this outstanding head-to-head record, Vietnamese fans believe that the home team will continue to have a favorable result against U23 Malaysia, thereby soon winning a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Asian U23 tournament.

The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Malaysia will take place at 8:00 p.m. on April 20 at Khalifa International Stadium, Qatar.