U23 Vietnam beat Laos in the opening match of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament
In the opening match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, U23 Vietnam had an impressive victory over U23 Laos, thereby creating a big advantage in the race for a ticket to the semi-finals.
On the afternoon of July 19, the U23 Vietnam team entered the opening match against U23 Laos in the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament. With a group considered quite easy, when only having to face U23 Laos and U23 Cambodia, the goal of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team is not only to win 3 points but also to demonstrate convincing play, win big, score many goals and minimize injuries and penalty cards.
Right from the first minutes, U23 Vietnam took the initiative to control the game, continuously organizing attacks and pressuring the opponent. However, the U23 Laos defense was tightly organized, making it difficult for the young Vietnamese players to finish.
It was not until the 19th minute that the deadlock was broken. U23 Vietnam launched an attack on the left wing, the ball was crossed into the penalty area and Khuat Van Khang had a delicate one-touch finish, opening the score for the home team.
After the goal, the game was still completely tilted towards U23 Vietnam. The ball almost only rolled on the U23 Laos field as coach Kim Sang-sik's students continued to deploy many diverse attack plans. However, U23 Laos still persisted with the defensive counter-attacking style and maintained the necessary concentration.
In the final minutes of the first half, U23 Vietnam proactively slowed down the pace of the match to save energy after a period of continuous attacks. Despite having the complete advantage in terms of ball possession and chances created, U23 Vietnam still could not score more goals.
The first half ended with a temporary score of 1-0 in favor of U23 Vietnam.
In the second half, coach Kim Sang-sik made two substitutions to refresh the attack. Viktor Le and Minh Phuc were brought in to replace Quoc Viet and Anh Quan. U23 Vietnam continued to push up the squad, increasing the pressure to score a goal to double the gap.
Despite dominating possession and dominating the game, the white-shirted players still faced many difficulties against the disciplined and resilient defense of U23 Laos. In addition, U23 Vietnam also made a number of misdirected passes, creating potentially dangerous situations for the home team's goal.
The match fell into a deadlock for most of the first half of the second half. However, the difference was made in the 71st minute. From a corner kick taken by Dinh Bac, Hieu Minh jumped high and headed the ball close to the goal, doubling the gap for U23 Vietnam.
After being led 0-2, U23 Laos had no choice but to push up their formation to find an equalizer. The game became more open, and this was the opportunity for U23 Vietnam to exploit the gaps in the opponent's defense.
In the 82nd minute, after a chaotic situation in the U23 Laos penalty area, Hieu Minh continued to shine with an accurate finish, completing his own double and raising the score to 3-0 for U23 Vietnam.
In the final minutes of the match, U23 Vietnam continued to dominate and created a number of good chances, but no more goals were scored. The match ended with a convincing 3-0 victory for coach Kim Sang-sik's team.
With 3 full points and a goal difference of +3 after the opening match, U23 Vietnam only needs to draw with U23 Cambodia in the final match to secure a ticket to the semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament./.
