Vietnamese football is different now.

Vietnam U23 had a very good match against UAE U23.

There was a time when, when talking about Vietnamese football, people often used familiar phrases like "playing with all your might," "overcoming difficulties," and "playing with spirit."

It's a description that's both proud and poignant, because behind it lies the acknowledgment that we often have to struggle to survive against opponents who are superior in physique, strength, and speed.

But the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup quarter-final match against UAE U23 on the morning of January 17th showed that all those outdated frames of reference are obsolete. Vietnam U23 displayed a completely different performance, leaving everyone in awe.

From "overcoming difficulties with sheer determination" to turning the tables on the opponent.

The UAE U23 team was completely exhausted when facing the Vietnam U23 team.

This time, the Vietnam U23 team didn't win by defensively huddling together and waiting for rare opportunities. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team won by controlling the game, by maintaining a high intensity of play throughout 120 minutes, exhausting their opponents. Images of UAE players gasping for breath, constantly falling to the ground, and requesting substitutions in extra time, which went viral on social media, proved the physical shift in their performance.

At the 105th minute, the U23 Vietnam coaching staff didn't shout "play defensively," nor did they remind players to "maintain distance." Instead, a confident command echoed clearly on television: "Keep passing the ball around, they're all tired." That's a statement only uttered when the U23 Vietnam team believed their players were fitter than their opponents.

And that belief doesn't come from emotion.

Throughout the 120 minutes, the Vietnam U23 team maintained their pressing style, readily engaging in one-on-one challenges, circulating the ball quickly, and constantly stretching the UAE's defense. Meanwhile, the West Asian team, known for their physical fitness, showed clear signs of fatigue. Their runs lacked decisiveness, their marking was half a beat too slow, and they appeared confused when facing Vietnam's short-range passing game.

The decisive goal scored by Pham Minh Phuc was the inevitable result of a game in which the Vietnam U23 team continuously pressured their opponents in extra time.

A very different Vietnam U23 team.

Opponents were exhausted from marking the Vietnam U23 team.

Therefore, it would no longer be accurate to describe this victory with familiar phrases like "courageous," "resilient," or "overcoming difficulties." The match against the UAE U23 team was not a story of an underdog team desperately clinging on, but rather a testament to comprehensive maturity, from physical fitness and footballing intelligence to the ability to control the pace of the game.

Having watched football long enough, Vietnamese fans have probably come to accept the reality that West Asian players are always "fitter and more durable." Therefore, the moment when the Vietnam U23 team played better than their opponents in extra time, running more, competing better, and even proactively increasing the pace of the game, brought a very different feeling—both surprise and pride.

This is the victory of a well-prepared team, honed to compete on equal footing at the continental level, not the kind of victory achieved by a generation that "tried their best." Today's U23 Vietnam team is no longer a team waiting for opponents to make mistakes. They proactively create those mistakes.

And when the coaching staff can calmly shout, "Just keep moving, they're all tired," that's when Vietnamese football truly makes the rest of Asia look at it in a different light.

All goals from the U23 Vietnam - U23 UAE match: In the early hours of January 17th, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 UAE with a score of 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the 2026 U23 Asian Championship.