Except for the disappointing Asiad 19, Vietnamese football had a successful 2023 in many tournaments with different team levels, from men to women, national team to youth team.
Coach Philippe Troussier in the second qualifying round of the 2 World Cup – Photo: HOANG Tung
The year 2023 is about to end. Let's Youth Online Reviewing the highlights of Vietnamese football in 2023, welcoming 2024 with many interesting challenges.
Signed a contract with coach Philippe Troussier
2023 is considered a new journey for Vietnamese men's football. Saying goodbye to coach Park Hang Seo, Vietnamese men's football signed a contract with coach Philippe Troussier for the mission of conquering the World Cup dream.
In the second qualifying round of the 2 World Cup, the Vietnamese team has a chance to continue to the third qualifying round after winning 2026-3 against host Philippines and losing 2-0 to Iraq at My Dinh Stadium.
Although there are still things that need to be overcome in building new playing styles and people, the Vietnamese team and U23 Vietnam under coach Philippe Troussier also have positive points to look forward to the future.
Women's football set a record at SEA Games 32
The Vietnamese women's team set a record of winning the gold medal for the fourth consecutive time at the 4nd SEA Games in Cambodia after defeating Myanmar in the final.
This is not an easy SEA Games for coach Mai Duc Chung and his team when the Philippine women's team has many female players competing in Europe. The Philippines beat Vietnam 2-1 in the group stage, but were still eliminated due to a loss on difference.
With the 4th gold medal, Vietnam became the most successful women's soccer team in SEA Games history with 8 gold medals.
The Vietnamese women's team achieved a miracle at SEA Games 32 - Photo: NGUYEN KHOA
Memorable World Cup
For the first time in history, the Vietnamese women's football team competed in a World Cup. On New Zealand soil, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team played hard against defending champion America, defending runner-up Netherlands and Portugal.
Even though they were unable to score any goals and were the team that conceded the most goals in the group stage (0/12), the Vietnamese women's team still left a memorable image on the world stage.
Especially the opening match was only lost to the US 0-3, a number much lower than the predictions of both experts and fans before the opening hour.
Individual goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh also made her mark with an excellent save of the legendary Alex Morgan's 11m penalty. So much so that the World Football Federation (FIFA) later published an article "Now American fans know who Kim Thanh is".
Goalkeeper Kim Thanh (yellow shirt) and the Vietnamese women's team had a memorable 2023 Women's World Cup against the US women's team - Photo: REUTERS
Asiad disappointed
After an impressive 2023 Women's World Cup, a lot was expected of the Vietnamese women's team at Asiad 19. However, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team were eliminated right from the group stage despite having plenty of opportunities to advance. The reason is subjective.
In the opening match, the Vietnamese women's team only beat weak opponent Nepal 2-0. So even though they beat Bangladesh 6-1 before losing 0-7 to Japan, the Vietnamese women's team had to stop the game early.
Vietnam Olympic team (right) lost to Saudi Arabia Olympic team - Photo: VFF
The Vietnamese Olympic team has good forces but also played quite poorly at Asiad 19 and was eliminated right from the group stage. In the opening match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team struggled to win against weak opponent Mongolia Olympic 4-2, then lost to Olympic Iran 0-4 and Saudi Arabia 1-3.
Men's youth football makes its mark
The U23 Vietnam team won the 23 Southeast Asia U2023 Championship in Thailand after defeating U23 Indonesia 7-6 in the 11m penalty shootout (draw 0-0 in the official match time) in the final.
Notably, this is the second consecutive time Vietnamese youth football has won the Southeast Asian U2 Championship after the first time in 23 in Cambodia.
Not only leading U23 Vietnam to win the 23 Southeast Asian U2023 Championship, coach Hoang Anh Tuan also led the U20 Vietnam team to make a splash at the 20 U2023 Asian Championship in Uzbekistan.
U20 Vietnam had 2 victories against U20 Australia (1-0), U20 Qatar (2-1) and only lost to U20 Iran (1-3) in the last round. This result helped U20 Vietnam have the same 6 points as U20 Iran and U20 Australia but were unfortunately eliminated due to losing to 2 opponents on difference.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team celebrate the championship of the 23 Southeast Asia U2023 Championship – Photo: VFF
Shocking in the AFC Champions League
On December 6, Hanoi Club created a "seismic" at My Dinh Stadium when defeating defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) 12-2 in the final match of the 1-2023 AFC Champions League group stage.
That victory not only helped Hanoi Club have a beautiful farewell with 2 victories on the continental playground but also turned Urawa Red Diamonds Club into a former king. That surprising defeat left Japanese representatives and the country's press in disbelief.
VAR makes V-League more interesting - Photo: MINH DUC
V-League has VAR
Not only is it the first time to organize a national championship (V-League) over 2 years like world football, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Vietnam Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) also officially Formula to introduce video assistant referee (VAR) technology into the tournament in 2023.
Although the presence of VAR only took place in matches from Ha Tinh to the North, it has contributed to reducing errors for referees. In the first 8 rounds of the tournament, VAR helped the referees a lot when making accurate decisions.
If there are 2 more VAR cars in 2024, VAR will be applied throughout Vietnamese football fields. This is a positive thing worth waiting for.
Tuoitre.vn
