U23 Vietnam and the hope of 'erasing the curse' at the U23 Asian Cup

Up to now, the AFC U23 Championship has been held a total of 5 times (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022). Except for 2013, the U23 team has been present in the continental tournament for the age group of 23. It can be affirmed that no team in Southeast Asia has done better.

According to statistics, in the 4 opening matches of the U23 Asian Championships, U23 Vietnam has never won. The specific achievements are as follows: lost to U23 Jordan 1-3 in 2016, lost to U23 Korea 1-2 in 2018, drew U23 UAE 0-0 in 2020 and in 2022, drew 2-2 with U23 Thailand.

Therefore, experts and football fans in the country are hoping that coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team will be able to erase the above "curse". Because, in many aspects, U23 Vietnam is rated higher than U23 Kuwait, the first opponent at the 2024 AFC U23 Championship.

Most likely, the first ticket of Group D will be difficult to escape from the hands of U23 Uzbekistan. Thereby, U23 Vietnam, U23 Kuwait and U23 Malaysia will compete directly with each other for the remaining ticket of the group. A victory over U23 Kuwait in the opening match will help U23 Vietnam open the door to play in the quarterfinals.

However, if we look closely at the past, the result of the opening match does not completely determine the ticket to the next round of U23 Vietnam. For example, in the 2018 tournament, U23 Vietnam lost 1-2 to U23 Korea in the opening match, but eventually won the runner-up position.

In short, if U23 Kuwait is defeated, U23 Vietnam will erase the "curse" of losing and drawing in the opening matches of the U23 Asian Cup. And in case U23 defeats or draws, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team do not have to worry too much about the risk of having to return home early.

The opening match of U23 Vietnam at the 2024 AFC U23 Championship will take place on April 17 at Al Janoub Stadium, one of the eight venues that hosted the 2022 World Cup in host Qatar./.