Rivals 'jealous' of U.23 Vietnam: The race for SEA Games gold is getting more fierce

Vietnam U.23 team is well prepared for SEA Games 33 and the final round of the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship. These are things that not every team in Southeast Asia has.

U.23 Vietnam is given maximum conditions

The men's football event of the 33rd SEA Games will take place from December 3 to 18 in Thailand. The final round of the U.23 Asian Cup will take place from January 6 to 24, 2026 in Saudi Arabia. If there are no changes, the domestic football system will temporarily stop during the above mentioned period, so that the U.23 Vietnam team can focus on competing in those tournaments.

U.23 Vietnam is well prepared for SEA Games 33 and the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

This will be a huge advantage for coach Kim Sang-sik's team, because not all football teams in the region will stop their domestic tournaments, so that their U.23 teams can compete in the SEA Games and the U.23 Asian tournament (there are 2 representatives of Southeast Asia who have qualified for the 2026 U.23 Asian Championship, including U.23 Vietnam and U.23 Thailand).

The host country of the 33rd SEA Games, Thailand, is a vivid example. Thailand's Thai-League still plays normally during the time frame of these tournaments. The Thai-League also sets a rule that each club can only "release" a maximum of 2 players to the Thai U.23 team, participating in the 33rd SEA Games, in case there is a request from the Thai youth football team. This is to help domestic Thai clubs maintain their strength and ensure competitiveness for clubs in the Thai-League, but this will also weaken the Thai U.23 team.

To prepare for the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, up to now, Thailand U23 has only been able to contact the Indian U23 team, playing a friendly match at the end of November. As for Indonesia U23, they only have 2 friendly matches with India U23 in October. This is part of the preparation plan for the 33rd SEA Games of the young team of the archipelago country.

Rubbing against very strong opponents

If we compare the above matches of U.23 Thailand and U.23 Indonesia with the upcoming friendly matches of U.23 Vietnam, the opponents of U.23 Vietnam are of much better quality. At the end of November, U.23 Vietnam will appear at the international quadrangle tournament in China, with the participation of the host team U.23 China, Uzbekistan and South Korea.

U.23 Vietnam is ready for major tournaments at the end of this year and early next year.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Among them, the U.23 Korea and U.23 Uzbekistan teams are the strongest teams in Asia in their age groups. Therefore, the quality of the opponents that U.23 Vietnam will compete with is highly appreciated. This is something that most other teams in Southeast Asia have not been able to do.

Remember, before the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament in July, the U.23 Vietnam team had international matches with the U.23 teams of Korea, China and Uzbekistan, in another tournament also taking place in China. Thanks to the tense matches with the top Asian teams mentioned above, the U.23 Vietnam players matured, before coach Kim Sang-sik's team won the regional championship.

Therefore, the fact that U.23 Vietnam has been given the best conditions and has been well prepared before the 33rd SEA Games and the AFC U.23 Championship opens up opportunities for us to succeed. In particular, at the 33rd SEA Games in December, Coach Kim Sang-sik's team is expected to once again surpass its regional rivals and step onto the highest podium of the Southeast Asian arena.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cac-doi-thu-ganh-ty-voi-u23-viet-nam-cuoc-dua-tranh-vang-sea-games-cang-khoc-liet-185251021154637153.htm