Expert: "Vietnam U23 team accurately assessed their own capabilities to defeat South Korea"

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Former Vice President of AFF and VFF, Duong Vu Lam, believes that the Vietnam U23 team defeated the South Korea U23 team thanks to thorough tactical preparation, professional progress, and especially an incredibly strong fighting spirit.

Before kick-off of the 2026 Asian Cup third-place match between Vietnam U23 and South Korea U23 on the evening of January 23rd, not many people predicted that Coach Kim Sang Sik's team could defeat South Korea U23, a representative of one of the strongest football nations in Asia.

Nevertheless, we still pulled off a stunning surprise: Vietnam U23 defeated South Korea U23 in a penalty shootout, despite playing with ten men from the end of the second half of regular time.

The former Vice President of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) commented on this victory in a conversation with a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper after the match. In particular, Mr. Lam once again affirmed that the current generation is no less capable than the generation that created the "Changzhou Snow" miracle in 2018 in China.

Former VFF Vice President Duong Vu Lam (far right) in his role as head of the Vietnam U23 delegation at the 2018 Asian U23 Championship (Photo: TH).

Adjustments compared to the loss against China U23 in the semi-finals.

How would you assess the performance of the Vietnam U23 team against South Korea U23?

- First, I want to say that the Vietnam U23 team learned from their loss to China U23 in the semi-finals. The players played confidently, but without the excessive exuberance they displayed in the match a few days ago. We have a better understanding of our opponents and ourselves.

We understand that, in terms of overall ability and skill level among football nations, Vietnamese football is still inferior to its Asian counterparts in this year's tournament, which is why the players are playing more cautiously.

As for the South Korean U23 team, as their coach himself admitted, their players are quite inexperienced and their defense is not good. Coach Le Min Sung of the South Korean U23 team acknowledged that his defenders allowed the Vietnamese U23 attackers a lot of space to operate.

How did Dinh Bac's inclusion in the starting lineup for the Vietnam U23 team affect the entire team, sir?

- Coach Kim Sang Sik was right to field Dinh Bac from the start. Firstly, the U23 Vietnam defense had lost center-back Hieu Minh due to injury. Without Hieu Minh, we lost both a good center-back and a spiritual leader. Therefore, U23 Vietnam needed another spiritual leader on the field, and Dinh Bac would fulfill this role for the entire team.

Dinh Bac's presence from the start helped the Vietnam U23 team control the ball better (Photo: AFC).

Secondly, after losing Hieu Minh, we face a significant risk of being at a disadvantage in one-on-one challenges in the back line. If the Vietnam U23 team now also loses its ability to win one-on-one challenges in the attacking line, the whole team will fall into the same situation as in the semi-final match against China U23, which is having no ball to play with. Coach Kim's decision to use Dinh Bac from the start was to solve this problem of ball winning.

In fact, Dinh Bac's presence from the start helped the Vietnam U23 team control the ball and reduce the pressure on midfielder Thai Son to organize the game. Dinh Bac created a strong draw, forcing the South Korean U23 defenders to focus on him, leaving other spaces for the remaining players to exploit. Quoc Viet's opening goal is an example; Dinh Bac drew all the South Korean defenders away, then passed the ball to Quoc Viet who shot and scored.

Furthermore, when the attacking line, led by Dinh Bac, controlled the ball and diligently "hunted" for possession in the opponent's half, the pressure on the U23 Vietnam defense was significantly reduced, and U23 South Korea did not dare to push their entire team into U23 Vietnam's half.

A more accurate assessment of the competitor.

If the Vietnam U23 team played against China U23 in the same way they just played against South Korea U23, would we have been able to change the result in the semi-finals?

- It's difficult to say; it's impossible to compare two matches played at different times, against two different opponents. Firstly, the Chinese U23 team prepared better for their match against the Vietnamese U23 team than the South Korean U23 team prepared for their match against us.

It was clear that the Chinese U23 players had thoroughly studied the Vietnamese U23 team's playing style and personnel. They had a specific plan to neutralize the Vietnamese U23 team's play in the semi-finals; Dinh Bac and Thai Son were constantly surrounded by strong Chinese U23 players.

Before facing U23 South Korea, U23 Vietnam learned a lesson from their defeat against U23 China in the semi-finals (Photo: AFC).

Even center-back Hieu Minh was surrounded by Chinese U23 attackers. They clearly intended to wear down the most important players of the Vietnamese U23 team right from the start, thereby disrupting the Vietnamese U23 team's playing style.

Secondly, the Chinese U23 players at the 2026 Asian U23 Championship are more cunning and experienced than the South Korean U23 players; they employ more dirty tactics. Thirdly, the Vietnamese U23 team was unlucky in the match against China. Xiaoming's injury caused the players in the defense to lose their composure, and then Li De's red card caused the whole team to fall apart.

The moment Ly Duc received the red card was when the Vietnam U23 team began to calm down, attack more effectively, and create more scoring opportunities. Without that red card, if we had scored a goal around the 70th-75th minute, the final minutes of the match against China U23 could have been very different.

And what about the strength of the Vietnam U23 team in this tournament, sir?

- Most of the registered players have been used in this year's tournament (22 out of 23 players have played, the only one who hasn't played a single minute is goalkeeper Pham Dinh Hai), which is quite rare, showing that the U23 Vietnam team has a fairly balanced squad.

Except for the central defender positions, especially the one held by Nguyen Hieu Minh which lacks a replacement of comparable quality, the U23 Vietnam team has a balance between starting and reserve players in other positions. This reflects the depth of the U23 Vietnam squad.

Goalkeeper Cao Văn Bình is a brand new discovery after the match against South Korea U23 (Photo: AFC).

The player who surprised me in the match against South Korea U23 was the second-choice goalkeeper, Cao Van Binh. I didn't think a reserve goalkeeper could play so well and maturely. Previously, I thought goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien was the exception among the current U23 generation, but now there's Cao Van Binh as well.

Tran Trung Kien is still excellent, still the number one goalkeeper in Vietnamese football, but right behind him now is goalkeeper Cao Van Binh.

The quality is on par with the "Changzhou White Snow" generation, and the feeling is amazing.

But if we only had those factors, perhaps the Vietnam U23 team still wouldn't have been able to beat the South Korea U23 team, especially playing with fewer players? What about our physical condition and morale?

- Physical fitness is a factor that the entire team has prepared very carefully for this year's tournament. The players are incredibly resilient. In addition, the balanced squad, with positions that can be substituted for each other when needed, also helps the team's physical condition, ensuring that no player has to play under excessive strain.

In terms of spirit, the Vietnamese U23 players are among the best in the tournament. They always play with a high level of dedication and commitment. There were times I thought the players wouldn't be able to hold out in extra time against South Korea due to being shorthanded, but they still persevered. It's truly amazing.

The Vietnam U23 team possesses excellent morale and physical fitness (Photo: AFC).

In my opinion, even Dinh Bac's red card in the third-place match was due to a reckless challenge, not an intentional foul. He was actively defending, clearing the ball for his team, before losing control in a split second.

Speaking of a comparison between this year's U23 Vietnam team and the 2018 U23 Vietnam team, in relation to the "Changzhou Snow" miracle, which generation do you think is better?

- It's difficult to make a direct comparison, but I think the current generation is no less talented than their predecessors. Eight years after that miracle, we can now say that Vietnamese football possesses a new generation of very talented players.

As I've mentioned before, many players in the Vietnam U23 team are capable of playing for the national team, and some have even secured a starting position. The fact that Vietnam U23 finished third this year, one step behind the "Changzhou Snow" miracle, is because we weren't as lucky this year as we were in 2018.

This year's journey for the Vietnam U23 team has been more difficult. Along the way, we've encountered misfortune, most notably the injury to Hieu Minh in the semi-final against China U23, and then losing another player in that same match. If we had a full squad, coach Kim Sang Sik might have made different adjustments.

Emotionally speaking, this year's journey for the Vietnam U23 team brought about a range of emotions not unlike their journey in 2018. The players had a fantastic tournament. Before the tournament, I couldn't have imagined the team would play so well!

Thank you for the conversation!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chuyen-gia-u23-viet-nam-danh-gia-dung-chinh-minh-de-thang-han-quoc-20260124182003210.htm