U23 Vietnam - U23 Syria: Proud of Van Duc and Xuan Manh

In the history of confrontation in official tournaments, Syrian football has never lost to Vietnam (1 draw 0-0, 1 win 1-0 in the 2011 Asian Cup Qualifiers), which made U23 Syria enter the match very confident. Playing against an energetic opponent, the role of the reserve players of U23 Vietnam is extremely important, they must have enough professional qualifications and a strong mentality to be able to enter the field.

No distance

Coach Hussein Afash's tactics were very simple, he quickly deployed tall, physically fit players to compete, destroy the strength and disrupt the playing style of U23 Vietnam. They desperately needed a win, but in the first 45 minutes, Syria did not push their squad up to attack, they actively played at a slow pace to avoid counter-attacks.

They waited until the second half when the U23 Vietnam players were tired to speed up the match and attack continuously. Coach Hussein Afash instructed his players to play with wing plays, headers, long shots, and attack in the middle. When losing the ball, the Syrian players proactively committed fouls, not allowing Xuan Truong and Quang Hai to counterattack.

Van Duc (20) is playing more and more convincingly in the U23 Vietnam shirt. Photo: Internet

Mr. Park Hang Seo also proved himself to be a classy coach when he still played the 4-5-1 formation but Cong Phuong was assigned to play as a center forward. Van Toan came on to enhance his ability to keep the ball and penetrate from the right wing. U23 Vietnam also showed its strengths with small coordination and acceleration of the strikers in short segments.

Entering the second half, it was determined that U23 Syria would attack, so Coach Park Hang Seo changed his tactics by taking Van Toan out and putting Van Duc on the field. The SLNA midfielder was assigned to play inside, combining with Duc Huy and Xuan Truong to form a shield in front of the three central defenders Duc Trong, Duy Manh and Tien Dung. At this time, the U23 Vietnam formation became 5-3-1-1, establishing a crowded defense system to gain a favorable score for us.

Just like the previous two matches, when he came on from the bench, Van Duc played aggressively and fought hard. Coach Park brought Ha Duc Chinh in to replace Cong Phuong as a striker to prevent the U23 Syria defenders from advancing.

Obviously, Duc Chinh's tall physique and his understanding that U23 Vietnam has many players who can make accurate long passes forced U23 Syria to always have 2-3 players on the home field. In fact, if Duc Chinh had controlled the ball better from Van Duc's long pass, the U23 Syria goal would have been shaken.

Up to now, after 3 matches, Mr. Park has only used 14 players, the gap between reserve and official players is not significant, which allows the coaching staff to proactively come up with many different tactics.

Pride of Nghe An

In the final minutes of the match, U23 Syria continuously attacked with greater pressure, but U23 Vietnam players fought hard, trying every way to slow down the opponent's attack tempo.

Mouhamad Anez twice sent the ball just wide of goalkeeper Tien Dung's post. Even when goalkeeper Tien Dung failed to catch the ball, center back Dinh Trong still managed to cover and clear it right on the goal line. With the confidence he had, Van Duc and his teammates played fair and square, not hesitating to compete, compete physically and speedily with the taller opponent.

Xuan Manh is a versatile player. Photo: Internet

Xuan Manh was able to replace Quang Hai in the last few minutes and somewhat showed his bravery and strength in the confrontations.

Interestingly, both Xuan Manh and Van Duc were players who were called up at the last minute but were trusted by Coach Park. The professional level and SLNA-style fighting spirit of these two young players were brought into play at the right time.

U23 Vietnam has officially made history by entering the Quarterfinals of the continental tournament for the first time. Nghe An people are proud that in this historic team, there are 2 players from their homeland.