Chinese media comments after their team's victory over Vietnam U23.

Vietnam U23 lost 0-3 to China U23

On the evening of January 20th, the Chinese U23 team defeated the Vietnamese U23 team 3-0 in the semi-final of the AFC U23 Asian Championship at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium. With this result, the Chinese U23 team will advance to the final against the Japanese U23 team, while the Vietnamese U23 team will play in the third-place match against the South Korean U23 team.

Chinese media comments after their team's victory over Vietnam U23 - 1

China U23 won 3-0 against Vietnam U23 (Photo: AFC).

Following the match, the Chinese press showered praise on coach Antonio Puche and his team. Sina headlined: "A resounding victory! China U23 aims for the Asian U23 Championship title." The article emphasized: "The miracle of China U23 continues as the team wins 3-0 against Vietnam U23."

China's U23 team entered the tournament as the fourth seed due to their poor past performance. However, Coach Puche's squad made history by reaching the final.

Surprisingly, the Chinese U23 team, which had employed a defensive strategy with many players behind the ball since the beginning of the tournament, unexpectedly took the initiative to push forward and control the game. In the first half, the Chinese U23 team held possession for 65% of the time but failed to score.

However, the situation changed completely in the second half. The Chinese U23 team scored three goals against the Vietnamese U23 team. Furthermore, Coach Kim Sang Sik's team was reduced to 10 men in the match after Ly Duc received a red card.

Now, the Chinese U23 team is just one step away from a historic championship title at the U23 Asian Championship as they face Japan U23 in the final.

Chinese media comments after their team's victory over Vietnam U23 - 2

Vietnam U23 will play in the third-place match against South Korea U23 (Photo: AFC).

The Sohu newspaper published an article titled: "Five games without conceding a single goal, China's U23 team brilliantly reaches the final of the Asian U23 Championship." They proudly mentioned a new milestone for Chinese football: "This is the first time since 2004 that Chinese men's teams (U17, U20, U23, and senior national team) have reached the final of a continental tournament."

Previously, in 2004, Chinese teams reached the finals of the Asian Cup (losing to Japan 1-3), the U20 Asian Championship (losing to South Korea U20 0-2), and the U17 Asian Championship (winning against North Korea U17 1-0 to become champions).

At this year's AFC U23 Asian Championship, the Chinese U23 team also made a strong impression by not conceding a single goal in 5 matches before reaching the final. In the final match, Coach Puche's team will face the team with the strongest attack in the tournament, the Japanese U23 team.

The 163 newspaper claims that the Chinese U23 team has broken seven records after reaching the final of the 2026 Asian U23 Championship. Some of these records include China's first-ever appearance in the Asian U23 Championship final, their first unbeaten run of five consecutive matches, equaling Uzbekistan's record of five clean sheets in five matches (set in 2024), and remaining unbeaten against Vietnam in official tournaments…

Another Chinese newspaper, Hubei Daily, commented that the home team had a "strong attack" and a "resilient defense." The newspaper also praised coach Antonio Puche for thoroughly studying the Vietnamese U23 team. This allowed the Chinese U23 team to fully exploit Vietnam's weaknesses in defending against aerial balls.

The fact that the team from the country with the world's largest population unexpectedly pressed high up the pitch right from the start of the match also surprised the Vietnamese U23 team.

The third-place match between Vietnam U23 and South Korea U23 will take place at 10 PM on January 23rd.

Watch the entire 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship Finals on TV360 at https://tv360.vn. Enjoy a smooth multi-platform experience, rewind and replay, and free Viettel 4G/5G data.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-trung-quoc-binh-luan-khi-doi-nha-thang-u23-viet-nam-20260121015853667.htm