U23 Vietnam: Minh Quang is the best and Xuan Tien is the most impressive

Such different assessments are, after all, normal in football, because different perspectives will have different assessment results.

Specifically, striker Nguyen Minh Quang was on the field for the full 90 minutes in a tense, somewhat dramatic match until the score was raised to 2-1 for U23 Vietnam and the one who broke the balance before that was Minh Quang with a neat ball control, acceleration on the right wing and a powerful shot to score, not to mention that before that, this striker missed a similar situation. Since then, U23 Vietnam has improved comprehensively, scoring 2 more goals, bringing a "destructive" result against the opponent. The "key" to this victory was Minh Quang's excellent goal and it is right that this player was honored, it is in that sense that experts have followed, compiled professional data and made decisions.

But why was the head coach of U23 Laos, Mr. G.Arena, most impressed with Dinh Xuan Tien, who entered the field at the beginning of the second half, to replace the talented midfielder Van Truong who almost did not complete his task well throughout the first half? Xuan Tien is a mature player, handling the ball delicately, sharing the ball perfectly and knowing how to penetrate the opponent's penalty area to score memorable goals. It was Xuan Tien who passed the ball as if it was set up for Minh Quang to run down and shoot wide in the 67th minute. It was Xuan Tien who jumped high to head the ball for Minh Quang to accelerate to receive the ball with class and score in the 72nd minute. Then it was Xuan Tien who broke the offside trap from Phi Hoang's pass, handling the ball delicately to raise the score to 3-1. And it was Xuan Tien who created the assist for Vy Hao to "nail" the score to 4-1 in an exemplary counter-attack situation of U23 Vietnam.

To see that it is not a coincidence, there is no professional basis when the coach of U23 Laos is impressed with Xuan Tien. After AFF announced the name of the best player of the match, a famous Vietnamese sports newspaper had to exclaim "surprise".

But in the end, the victory of U23 Vietnam in the opening match is the most important thing in the competition process at this tournament. Obviously, U23 Vietnam had a hard time after letting U23 Laos equalize 1-1 in the beginning of the second half, but the lack of concentration and impatience of U23 Laos, the talent of Minh Quang, Xuan Tien and teammates in U23 Vietnam helped them regain the game and win a worthy victory. U23 Vietnam has confidence from good players such as Van Khang, Minh Quang, Xuan Tien..., there are concerns about the defense when Van Chuan, Duy Cuong, Manh Hung... made regrettable mistakes and that is the basis for Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan to continue to work hard to train and hone his students in the upcoming matches.

Obviously, if Van Chuan did not enter and exit properly, and did not handle the ball in the air as decisively as in the corner kick situation that later scored for U23 Laos, the coach would of course immediately think of goalkeeper Van Viet who was ready to replace him? Remember, Van Viet at Song Lam Nghe An has shown this very well when he often had to face the opponent's attack line, which is mostly foreign players with good physique and physical strength. Of course, the fault for the goal also belongs to the defense. It is worth mentioning that in the above match, Nguyen Hoang, who was originally a U20 player, was arranged to play in the center and this young player did not play badly, even very cleverly dared to hold the ball to attack, many situations read the opponent and made very accurate decisions. Meanwhile, both Duy Cuong and Manh Hung made mistakes that put Van Chuan's goal in a high alert situation more than once?

In midfield, it was clear that when the opponent pushed up and fiercely surrounded, Van Truong, Minh Khoa... had a hard time keeping the ball and dealing cards. It was not until Xuan Tien entered the field, then Duc Viet and then Nam Hai joined the battle, that everything became coherent and clear. Only then was Minh Quang put on the "launching pad" to develop his talent as this player is showing in V-League 2-2023 with 8 goals in Binh Thuan's shirt. And also thanks to Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan applying the "trick" of Song Lam Nghe An, especially entering the field from the second half, playing in his usual attacking midfield position, Xuan Tien was able to freely demonstrate his inherent ability as mentioned above.

Of course, U23 Laos is not the toughest opponent in this U23 Southeast Asian Championship. Therefore, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan and his students must be fully prepared for the fierce confrontations ahead, by continuing to promote what has been achieved, not only in Minh Quang or Xuan Tien but also in other potential talents such as Van Khang, Quoc Viet, Van Truong... And the story of who is voted the best by AFF is also a joy and confidence for the U23 Vietnam players. Because surely the players will take the goal of winning for the whole team as the highest goal, the most proud in any match or tournament./.