Coach Kim Sang Sik's team took the lead in the 19th minute thanks to captain Khuat Van Khang in the opening match of Group B on the evening of July 19.
However, U23 Vietnam had to wait until the last minutes for a double from central defender Hieu Minh to secure a 3-0 victory over U23 Laos to have a favorable start in the journey to defend the tournament championship.
Center backs Hieu Minh (No. 4) and Khuat Van Khang (No. 11) contributed greatly to the victory of U23 Vietnam (Photo: VFF).
The great contribution to the victory of U23 Vietnam is thanks to the dynamism of midfielder Khuat Van Khang. Looking at the heat map, it can be seen that the captain of U23 Vietnam moved very widely, all over the field and was always ready to participate in hot spots.
In addition to scoring the first goal for U23 Vietnam in the tournament, the captain of U23 Vietnam was also an extremely outstanding player, contributing greatly to the process of developing the ball as well as creating remarkable attacks. After the match, Khuat Van Khang was awarded the Most Active Player of the Match award by the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF).
"The first match is always difficult. U23 Vietnam tried very hard and won. I am happy to have scored a goal for the team and will try harder in each match to develop myself.
Each tournament is different, the participating teams are all strong. U23 Vietnam needs to try every match to aim for the goal of successfully defending the championship," midfielder Khuat Van Khang said after his team's victory.
AFF honored center back Hieu Minh as the best player of the match (Photo: AFF).
Meanwhile, center back Nguyen Hieu Minh was also honored by AFF as the best player of the match when he scored two goals for U23 Vietnam. The center back born in 2004 helped U23 Vietnam double the gap in the 71st minute thanks to a tricky header from a corner kick by Nguyen Dinh Bac.
Hieu Minh then appeared to score the third goal for Vietnam in the 84th minute in a messy situation in the penalty area thanks to a quick kick that sent the ball into the top corner of the goal.
“I am very happy, because the most important thing is that the team scores and wins. It doesn’t matter who scores. I would like to congratulate Nguyen Hieu Minh for his impressive performance and double in today’s match,” coach Kim Sang Sik praised center back Hieu Minh after the match.
Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/aff-vinh-danh-van-khang-hieu-minh-sau-chien-thang-dam-cua-u23-viet-nam-20250720084527976.htm
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