Only Vietnam and South Korea achieved perfect results in the U23 Asian qualifiers.

TPO - The U23 Asian qualifiers have just ended and Vietnam is proud to be in the group of 2 teams that won all matches without conceding any goals.

The 11 groups were mostly very close, leading to many interesting scenarios. Therefore, not many teams kept a clean sheet. For example, Japan – one of the strongest football nations in Asia, a pioneer in youth development, and the reigning U23 Asian champions.

In the recent qualifying campaign, Japan led but couldn't keep a clean sheet, conceding two goals. The 2024 runner-up, Uzbekistan, even conceded three goals. They only advanced through a wildcard spot, being among the four best second-placed teams. Iran, Qatar, Jordan, Syria… were also among these teams, having conceded at least one goal in the qualifying round despite having a perfect nine points from three wins, like Vietnam.

Meanwhile, some teams had very high goal differences and didn't concede any goals, but still didn't get the full 9 points like Vietnam. These were Australia and China. Both finished the qualifying round with 7 points, securing their tickets to the finals.

Japan earned all 9 points but failed to keep a clean sheet.

If we consider the teams that won all their matches and didn't concede a single goal, only Vietnam and South Korea achieved this in the entire qualifying round. Vietnam defeated Bangladesh, Singapore, and Yemen, with a goal difference of 4-0. Meanwhile, South Korea easily overcame Laos, Macau (China), and Indonesia, scoring 13 goals and not conceding a single goal. It can be said that only Vietnam and South Korea achieved a perfect record in the recent qualifying round.

This is also the second most impressive qualifying campaign in Vietnam's history of the U23 Asian Championship. In the 2020 U23 Asian Championship qualifiers, Vietnam won all three matches and conceded no goals. However, the team, featuring players like Hoang Duc, Viet Hung, and Quang Hai, scored 11 goals, defeating Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei to convincingly top their group.

In the recently concluded campaign, perhaps the poor finishing was the reason why Vietnam only scored a total of 4 goals in 3 matches. Certainly, the team will have to improve this aspect in the future.

TEAMS THAT QUALIFY FOR THE AFC U23 ASIAN QUALIFIERS:

The 11 group winners are: Vietnam, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Syria, Thailand, and Kyrgyzstan.

The four best second-placed teams in their groups: China, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, UAE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chi-viet-nam-va-han-quoc-dat-thanh-tich-hoan-hao-o-vong-loai-u23-chau-a-post1776872.tpo