To bring U.23 Vietnam closer to the Olympic goal

The fierce race

The condition for U.23 Vietnam to qualify for the Paris Olympics is to achieve one of three positions: champion, runner-up or third place in the 2024 U.23 Asian tournament. If they win fourth place, coach Philippe Troussier's students will play a play-off with an African representative.

That means, first of all, U.23 Vietnam must reach the semi-finals of the tournament to have any hope of reaching the Olympics. In the 4 times participating in the U.23 Asian finals, U.23 Vietnam has achieved this achievement once (final in 2018), and once came close (quarter-finals in 2022).

However, in both of these times, the U.23 Asian finals were not held in the same year as the Olympics, so the tournament was not considered a "pass" qualifying round to the world football arena. In the two most recent times the U.23 Asian tournament was an Olympic qualifier (2016 and 2020), U.23 Vietnam both stopped in the group stage without any victories.

U.23 Vietnam has 4 months left to prepare for the Asian tournament

Of course, qualifying for the Olympics (through the U.23 tournament) is different from qualifying for the World Cup. At the national team level, top Asian teams such as Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia have established a huge gap with the chasing group (who will almost certainly qualify for the World Cup).

In the U.23 arena, the gap between the strong football teams and the rest still exists, but is more blurred. The opportunity for second-rate football teams, including Vietnam, to cause a shock is relatively clear.

Evidence is the U.23 Asian Championship of Iraq (2013), Uzbekistan (2018), both of which are football teams that have not participated in the World Cup for a long time or have not participated in the World Cup, but have made a strong impression in the U.23 Asian tournament. Meanwhile, Australia and Iran are very strong at the national team level, but the U.23 generation is not too outstanding. U.23 Iran has never even reached the semi-finals.

However, statistics show that in years when the U.23 Asian finals are held in the same year as the Olympics, Asian football powers always prepare more thoroughly and systematically.

For example, U.23 Japan, U.23 South Korea and U.23 Iraq were the teams that won Olympic tickets through the 2016 U.23 Asian Cup. Four years later, U.23 South Korea, U.23 Saudi Arabia and U.23 Australia got tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics thanks to winning the first 3 positions in the U.23 Asian Cup.

Coach Troussier creates opportunities for young stars in the national team

The probability of surprises in the tournament in these years has decreased significantly. Japan U.23 once sent the U.21 team to play in the 2018 AFC U.23 Championship, when this tournament did not have an Olympic ticket. But 3 years later, it was still Japan U.23, with the addition of some national players, who played extremely well at the Tokyo Olympics. The important thing is attitude.

Prepare carefully

In the last 3 U.23 Asian finals, U.23 Vietnam participated in the tournament shortly after the end of the SEA Games. Experience in the Southeast Asian playground, whether successful or not, creates momentum for young players to "warm up" before the Asian stage.

But by the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam U23 will not have any more youth tournaments to hone their skills. Players can only gain experience through clubs and the national team.

In the national team, coach Philippe Troussier has promoted his best young players to practice alongside the seniors. Some faces such as Thai Son, Minh Trong, Tuan Tai have been given a starting position, while Van Tung, Van Khang, Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan, Van Cuong are on the bench.

This young squad is likely to continue to be named at the 2023 Asian Cup (where the Vietnamese team is in the same group as Japan, Iraq, and Indonesia) and play two more matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers before entering the U.23 Asian tournament.

Promoting young players to the Vietnam national team to "incubate" the U.23 Asian tournament was in Mr. Troussier's calculations. At least 7 official matches (not including friendly matches) are a springboard for the U.23 players to improve their level.

Even the generation of Quang Hai, Cong Phuong, Van Thanh, Duy Manh... many years ago when they reached the final of U.23 Asia, had never met the strongest teams in Asia with the same frequency as Thai Son and Minh Trong now.

Meeting Iraq is an opportunity for young players to gain experience.

From the perspective of V-League, the young generation still brings worries. Thai Son, Minh Trong, Tuan Tai are the rare players who have a starting position at the club. The rest such as Van Cuong, Van Khang, Dinh Bac, Van Tung... find it difficult to compete with the seniors at a higher level.

Coach Troussier mentioned the issue that V-League teams often prioritize experienced players and are less open to the young generation. However, it must be said that because the young generation in recent years has many talented players who have affirmed their positions at the club, it means that the next generation has had limited opportunities.

Every V-League team needs results, so it is difficult to take risks with young players. Even young teams like Viettel and SLNA have to be very careful when using players. This is a factor that Mr. Troussier cannot control.

When the progress in V-League has not met expectations, continuing to "insert the teeth" of many generations in the Vietnam team, even bringing more young players onto the field to "take the short term to feed the long term" will be the best way for Coach Troussier and his students to get closer to the Olympic dream.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/de-u23-viet-nam-gan-hon-voi-muc-tieu-olympic-185231127143614203.htm