Is the Olympic dream close for U.23 Vietnam and coach Troussier?

'Pushing force' from the big playground

The focus of Vietnamese football at the national team level in 2024 is divided into two spearheads: the 2026 World Cup qualifiers of the Vietnamese team, along with the 2024 AFC U.23 Championship finals of the Vietnamese U.23 team.

The 2024 AFC U-23 Championship is a playground where coach Philippe Troussier has high expectations. The French strategist has repeatedly mentioned his ambition to win a ticket to the Olympics, a milestone that Vietnamese football has never reached.

Mr. Troussier also understands that to rejuvenate the Vietnamese team and build a foundation for the new phase, helping the U.23 team (with many players promoted to the national team) achieve results is necessary.

U.23 Vietnam passed the 2024 Asian qualifiers with 7 points after 3 matches

6 years ago, the U.23 Vietnam team of Quang Hai, Dinh Trong, Duy Manh, Van Hau... reached the final of the 2018 U.23 Asia Championship, creating a favorable springboard to create a cycle of success for Vietnamese football during the 5 years coach Park Hang-seo was in charge.

Youth football is just one of the measures of football's capacity. The achievements of youth teams such as U.19 and U.23 do not guarantee that the national team will take off. For example, Uzbekistan has achieved success in the U.20 and U.23 levels, but the national team has never participated in the World Cup. The Uzbekistan team also just stopped in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Cup.

However, for the young Vietnamese players, who have been deprived of the opportunity to compete internationally for 2 years due to the pandemic, most of whom have not yet found a place in the V-League, finding "push" in a large-scale playground like the U.23 Asia to advance is the right choice.

No room for surprises

The reason coach Troussier focuses on U.23 Vietnam in the U.23 Asian tournament is because youth football always has many surprises.

Since the tournament was launched in 2013, after 5 final rounds, U.23 Korea and U.23 Japan have only won the championship once. In the remaining 3 tournaments, the championship respectively belonged to U.23 Iraq (2013), U.23 Uzbekistan (2018) and U.23 Saudi Arabia (2022).

Coach Troussier still has a lot to teach his students.

Football nations that are "regular guests" of the World Cup such as Australia and Iran have never even had a U.23 team reach the final, let alone win the championship.

However, it is necessary to recognize a reality: in the U.23 Asian finals held in the same year as the Olympics (meaning that the teams with high rankings will have tickets to the Olympics), football powerhouses always focus their resources to compete.

The 2016 AFC U.23 Championship Finals (selecting teams to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics), the champion was Japan U.23, and the runner-up and third place were South Korea U.23 and Iraq U.23 respectively.

At the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship finals (to select teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics), the champion was U.23 Korea, while the runner-up and third place were U.23 Saudi Arabia and U.23 Australia, respectively. U.23 Japan was eliminated early, but that's okay, because they are... the Olympic hosts, so they don't need to find a ticket through the Asian tournament.

The only surprises happened in the finals of 2013, 2018 and 2022, when the high-ranking teams did not have any Olympic spots. Powerful football nations like Korea and Japan usually only send their U.21 teams to compete, to prepare for the U.23 Asian tournament that will include an Olympic spot 2 years later.

In this year's U.23 Asian Cup, when Olympic spots are "given" to high-ranking teams (champions, runners-up, third-placed), South Korean, Japanese, Saudi Arabian or Australian football teams are likely to play fairly with their strongest teams. That is a difficult challenge for Mr. Troussier and his team.

Which goal is appropriate?

If the Olympic target was set from the beginning, I'm afraid that U.23 Vietnam will be under a lot of pressure. In the last 2 finals held in Olympic years, U.23 Vietnam were both eliminated early.

In 2020, U.23 Vietnam, with a very strong core squad that had just won the SEA Games, was eliminated in the group stage of the U.23 Asia with 2 points after 3 matches, ranking last in the group.

Young talents like Van Khang (14) and Dinh Bac (15) have had the chance to compete in the national team.

Therefore, U.23 Vietnam probably needs to calculate each match to get through the group stage first. In group D, coach Troussier and his team will face U.23 Uzbekistan, U.23 Kuwait and U.23 Malaysia. Apart from the overwhelmingly strong Uzbekistan, the other two opponents are well within Thai Son and his teammates' reach for second place.

If they make it to the quarter-finals, U.23 Vietnam will likely face U.23 Saudi Arabia or U.23 Iraq, two very strong teams in Group C. At this point, the quarter-final match will decide the fate of U.23 Vietnam. A win means a ticket to the Olympics is very close at hand.

But to reach the quarterfinals, play well in the group stage, study your opponents and take each game one by one. Don't let the Olympics become a burden, leading to a deviation from the first minute.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/giac-mo-olympic-co-gan-voi-u23-viet-nam-va-hlv-troussier-185240207142328818.htm