Excellent comeback to defeat Philippines, U23 Vietnam wins the right to enter the final
Vietnam U23 had a convincing victory over Philippines U23 in the semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament on the evening of July 25. Despite being behind in the first half, with a strong will and methodical tactics, coach Kim Sang Sik's team excellently won a ticket to the final match against host Indonesia U23.
Dinh Bac and the whole team celebrate the equalizer 1-1 for U23 Vietnam against U23 Philippines (Photo: VFF).
The host country's press quickly focused their attention on the comeback of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team. Two major newspapers, Kompas and Bola, both analyzed the tactics of U23 Vietnam, while Kompas wrote: "U23 Vietnam came from behind to defeat the Philippines 2-1. The pressure they created in the second half was truly unbearable."
The newspaper also did not hesitate to praise the contributions of each individual on the U23 Vietnam side, especially Nguyen Dinh Bac and Nguyen Xuan Bac. “Dinh Bac rushed in and finished decisively after his header hit the post. Although he is still quite young, he played with a lot of experience and courage. This is only found in big teams.”
After U23 Indonesia had to make an effort to overcome U23 Thailand in a penalty shootout, the country's media feared that a similar scenario would happen in the final match. Bola wrote: "It is not difficult for such a moment to repeat itself in the final match against Vietnam. U23 Vietnam not only played methodically but also very stubbornly."
In the final match of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 tournament taking place on August 26 in Thailand, U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia were tied after 120 minutes of a goalless match.
The result had to be decided by a penalty shootout and U23 Vietnam won with a score of 6-5, officially defending the championship after a decisive save from goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan against Ernando Ari's penalty kick from Indonesia.
Indonesian media is wary of the strength of U23 Vietnam (Photo: Bola).
Bola newspaper affirmed: “Indonesia has a chance to take revenge in the upcoming final match but they need to solve it immediately in the official 90 minutes of the match. However, coach Gerald Vanenburg’s team still needs to prepare carefully for the penalty shootout because Vietnam will not be easily defeated.”
Coach Kim Sang Sik and his team will have to overcome enormous pressure not only from the strongest opponent in the region, but also from the fans in the stands. The final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia will take place at 8pm on July 29 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Indonesia).
Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ live on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-thua-nhan-suc-manh-cua-u23-viet-nam-truoc-tran-chung-ket-20250726023618499.htm
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