U23 Vietnam: Confidence intact despite losing the match

The quarter-finals of the 2022 AFC U23 Championship ended with the victory of the stronger teams, who were rated higher, but there were also surprises when the team that seemed stronger lost, even lost miserably. That is how teams like U23 Australia, host U23 Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia reached the semi-finals along with the surprising but convincing performance of U23 Japan against defending champion U23 Korea.

U23 Arabia Saudi with technical play excellently entered the semi-finals. Photo: Document

That is football with physical strength, fitness, technical tactics, current form along with tradition and inherent class. But there is also football with surprises, interesting from luck and bad luck, from international experience and immaturity. Look at how U23 Korea was stuck before U23 Japan players (actually U19, 20 and 21), how they lost but still fought until the last minute and the attitude of accepting defeat (becoming a former champion team) calmly, relieved... to find a way to learn, accept all impacts to grow up.

Hope and regret for U23 Vietnam when they stopped in the quarter-finals against a stronger team. Photo: Archive

It is also a way to look at the first leg full of confidence, hope and regret for U23 Vietnam when they stopped at the quarter-finals against a stronger, more classy and more experienced team, U23 Arabia Saudi. U23 Vietnam had more than 40 minutes of the first half that could not have been better, despite being forced to defend, but always persisting in an active attacking style when there was an opportunity. If Minh Binh had been luckier and more precise, he could have made the match turn in a different direction when this striker's shot bounced off the crossbar instead of bouncing down and falling behind the goal line?

And the experience of fighting is what Viet Anh and his teammates had to go through to understand after what they had to painfully accept. That collision situation was exactly a foul but the referee took advantage of not blowing the whistle, while the U23 Vietnam players hesitated and lacked determination so that the opponent rushed forward very quickly, Tien Long was incomprehensibly gentle and the ball... went into his own net.

Everything changed from that situation. Being behind, U23 Vietnam had to push forward to find an equalizer and inevitably had to accept the opponent's counterattack. Then Van Chuan had to receive a red card and leave the field, which was also a chain reaction that could not be avoided. Either an equalizer or another loss and unfortunately U23 Vietnam had to accept the second outcome, unable to reverse the situation against the current runner-up and candidate for the championship of this tournament.

Unable to achieve excellent results like the 2018 Changzhou generation, but coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team, despite only 17 days in a trench, have achieved the feat of passing the group stage to the quarterfinals of the continental tournament. Remember, even if some Thai fans are happy or… forced to be happy when U23 Vietnam stops, the sadness of not being able to pass the qualifying round when calling back a bunch of Thais, the lesson of failure about "eating early, eating quickly" of the Thai people will surely take a long time to fade away.

When U23 Vietnam changes generations, with new teachers, new players and new playing philosophy, stumbling or temporary failure is inevitable. The problem is that from now on, youth training must be closely linked to creating conditions for them to rub shoulders, accumulate and practice as much as possible.

If V. League 1 and 2 do not have a place for young players, but the bosses and teams only focus on achievements by buying foreign players, good players, and doing many things other than football, then the immediate consequence of defeat and humiliation always goes hand in hand with Vietnamese football, especially when "bringing the bell to play in foreign countries". Foreign coaches discover early Tuan Tai, Van Do, Tien Long, Van Truong, Van Tung, Manh Dung, Van Chuan... then we all contribute to create a new generation capable of shouldering the responsibility for Vietnamese football in the near future. We must create a "field" for them to practice and mature through training and competing at the national and international level.

So that at least when they are once again given the responsibility at SEA Games 32 or some other continental tournament, the unfortunate immaturity and lack of experience as mentioned above in the quarter-final match against U23 Arabia Saudi Arabia will never happen again. And this class of players actually deserves to be given the best possible launching pad, deserves to be hoped for and waited for...