U23 Vietnam: Main entrance or side entrance?

In theory, after 1 match, bothU23 Vietnamand U23 Myanmar are equal in terms of indexes (1 win, 3 points, goal difference +1). But in reality, it seems that the opponent in the "final match" of Group I of U23 Vietnam is not too strong for Van Xuan and his teammates to be wary of, and we must also pay attention to a small detail that both opponents scored the only goal in the final minutes of the match (U23 Myanmar scored in the 80th minute, U23 Vietnam scored in the 82nd minute). Are they hiding their cards and of course, caution is never too much?

The goal of U23 Vietnam in the qualifying round is to win both matches to win a ticket to the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. Photo: VFF

It is easy to see that U23 Myanmar is a team with remarkable speed, strength and danger. This team is diverse in attack, proficient in both wing and central attacks, and very active in long-range shooting. Striker Naing Tun has a very good jumping ability and if he was lucky, this player would have scored the opening goal in the 40th minute. Not only that, the person who scored the goal for U23 Myanmar, who played with Aung Kaung in the 80th minute, was also an extremely fast striker when receiving the ball in the penalty area from a cross from a teammate. This is the attacking duo that the U23 Vietnam defense must pay close attention to throughout the upcoming match.

Perhaps the failure in the opening match has made U23 Chinese Taipei learn many lessons, especially that the compact defense still did not achieve the desired results, so in the final match, this team often raised their game to be ready to attack the opponent. There were a few favorable situations but the U23 Chinese Taipei strikers were not good enough to score a goal. This shows that U23 Myanmar may have many gaps in their defense and U23 Vietnam needs to boldly attack, impose their game and proactively defend from a distance. Whether U23 Myanmar is still hiding a card or in reality, that is something that Mr. Park Hang-seo must determine soon to have a suitable plan when facing in the next match.

Before entering the U23 Asian qualifiers, U23 Vietnam had two friendly matches with the results of a 1-1 draw with U23 Tajikistan and a 3-0 win over U23 Kyrgyzstan. Photo: VFF

Certainly, U23 Vietnam must focus on achieving the highest goal of a win to take the top spot in Group I, getting a direct ticket to the final. The fact that the German head coach, Mr. Popov, is not directly in charge on the field due to a red card in the previous match could be an advantage for U23 Vietnam, especially in reading the situation on the field to handle it quickly. On the contrary, there is information that an assistant of Mr. Popov also worked as an assistant for Mr. Park, meaning that the two sides will not be strangers to each other, so U23 Vietnam may not have an advantage from that. So, to take the initiative in everything, Mr. Park must be really good at this game, meaning he must surprise his opponent with strange, new and more effective moves. The opponent must know which wings U23 Vietnam attacks the flanks with, where they are heading, and which explosives they use to find a way to "lock" from afar? They also know that U23 Vietnam still makes mistakes and passes incorrectly and is ready to counterattack when the opportunity opens up?

Of course, the team that can release the inertia and tension will enter the game and operate more smoothly and favorably. Otherwise, the match will drag on and the two sides will have an acceptable result of a draw, leading to a penalty shootout to choose the top team, and then both sides happily move on to the final round.

But that is something no one wants and should not choose this solution in a youth football tournament. Because of the calculations of adults, because of achievements, young talents will soon wither away, lack of effort, gain first but lose later, even lose in the long run. With youth football, many times a lost match, a lost tournament can gain a "golden treasure" of lessons, experiences more valuable than gold.

The Vietnam U23 team will train abroad before entering the 2022 AFC U23 qualifiers. Photo: VFF

At best, the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Myanmar is a real group final, the winner will advance, the loser will be eliminated without having to wait for the ticket from the second-best team. A team that is not really good, reaching the final round and then being eliminated early will not actually learn anything to improve, but can be dulled by being overwhelmed, by losing faith in themselves.

Expect U23 Vietnam to win by the brightest path based on the highest determination, highest will and best demonstration of each player's professional capacity through the "main gate", not by calculating from any unjust corners!