U23 Vietnam - U23 Malaysia: Right person, right time

Before the final match of Group C, U23 Vietnam was in 3rd place with 2 points, 2 points behind the 2 teams above them, U23 Korea and U23 Thailand. To win a ticket to the quarter-finals, the immediate task of coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team is to overcome U23 Malaysia, a team that has not scored any points and has been eliminated.

The joy of U23 Vietnam players in the draw with U23 Korea. Photo: VnExpress

According to the tournament rules, in case more than 2 teams have the same points, the first sub-index to be considered is the head-to-head result. Thus, if they only defeat U23 Malaysia (with any score), and the match between U23 Korea and U23 Thailand does not end in a draw of 2-2 or more, coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team will officially be in the round of 8 strongest teams.

In theory, the possibility of U23 Vietnam winning against U23 Malaysia is very clear. Besides the reason for being eliminated early after 2 heavy losses to U23 Korea (1-4) and U23 Thailand (0-3), the quality of U23 Malaysia's squad is also not highly appreciated. The bottom position in Group C somewhat reflects the true strength of coach Brad Maloney and his team in this tournament.

U23 Malaysia (yellow shirt) was just crushed by U23 Thailand with a score of 0 - 3. Photo: AFC

Against a team that is both weak and unmotivated like U23 Malaysia, the possibility of winning, even winning with a big score, is within reach of Bui Hoang Viet Anh and his teammates. This is a great opportunity for coach Gong Oh-kyun to apply an attacking style of play to U23 Vietnam, something they have not been able to do in the last two matches against U23 Thailand and U23 Korea.

It is also worth mentioning that in the tournament taking place in Uzbekistan, the playing style of U23 Malaysia has become much more liberal. Whether facing U23 Korea or U23 Thailand, coach Brad Maloney's team still did not hesitate to push up the squad to find goals. That is also the reason why they were defeated by U23 Korea and U23 Thailand with high scores.

Furthermore, after two defeats against U23 Korea and U23 Thailand, there was a fierce conflict within the U23 Malaysia team. The Malaysian newspaper Vocket revealed that coach Brad Maloney had submitted his resignation to the Malaysian Football Federation because he was dissatisfied with the playing spirit of his players. It seems that the coaching staff and players of U23 Malaysia no longer have the mind to think about the competition with coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team.

The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Malaysia in the final round of Group C of the 2022 AFC U23 Championship will take place at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow (June 8).