U23 Vietnam perfects tactics, ready for the opening match at the U23 Southeast Asian tournament

On the afternoon of July 18, in Indonesia, the Vietnam U23 team entered the final training session before the opening match against Laos U23 at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

The training session marked the return of midfielder Le Van Thuan from Thanh Hoa Club. He was called up to replace striker Nguyen Thanh Nhan, who was injured in the training session on July 16 and was forced to say goodbye to the tournament.

Although he just returned, Le Van Thuan did not take much time to integrate with his teammates because he had joined the team from the beginning of the preparation period and was only removed from the official list right before the team moved to Indonesia.

The atmosphere of the training session was positive, cheerful and highly focused. The players enthusiastically participated in reflex training exercises and team building exercises designed by fitness assistant Cedric Rogers. Smiles were always present on the faces of the U23 Vietnam players, reflecting a relaxed mentality before the match.

The final part of the training session is a competition to perfect tactics and adjust necessary points in the gameplay.

Before the training session, goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien was assigned to answer the media. The goalkeeper of Hoang Anh Gia Lai shared that the whole team has the highest spirit and determination, always considers all opponents as equal and is ready to fight with all their might to achieve the best results.

He believes that in this tournament there are no weak opponents, the most important thing is to maintain a stable spirit and focus on each match.

Tran Trung Kien is currently considered the leading candidate for the number one goalkeeper position of U23 Vietnam. He has many advantages with his experience playing in V-League with Hoang Anh Gia Lai, and having played in the national team.

However, Trung Kien remained humble, saying that the difference between the three goalkeepers was not big and that he always tried to perform well in each training session. In particular, he said that he learned a lot from goalkeeper coach Lee Won-jae, who has experience competing in major tournaments such as the World Cup. Each training session with him was a valuable opportunity to improve his skills and gain experience.

With careful preparation in both physical and mental aspects, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team are ready to defend their Southeast Asian U23 championship title. The opening match of the Vietnam U23 team will take place at 5 p.m. on July 19, against Laos U23.

Some pictures of the training session before the opening match: