U.23 Vietnam's attack is not yet in gear
Vietnam U.23 has entered the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship with a perfect record against Laos U.23, Cambodia U.23 and the Philippines U.23. In short tournaments, winning is the most important thing, and coach Kim Sang-sik and his team are on the right track with favorable results.
However, overall, the U.23 Vietnam attack has not met expectations. Of the 7 goals scored, the strikers only contributed 2 goals. Those were 2 goals by Dinh Bac against U.23 Cambodia and U.23 Philippines. 2 goals belonged to the midfield (Van Khang, Xuan Bac). Surprisingly, the defense contributed 3 goals thanks to Hieu Minh (double against U.23 Laos) and Ly Duc (score against U.23 Cambodia).
U.23 Vietnam midfielder admits the team is lacking a real 'goal scorer'
U.23 Vietnam enters the final of U.23 Southeast Asia 2025
PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG
Many "guns" honed in V-League and youth teams such as Van Thuan, Quoc Viet, Van Truong, Le Viktor... have not yet known the feeling of scoring in the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian tournament. In the match against U.23 Philippines, Van Thuan disappointed many people when he kicked the ball over the bar. The mark Quoc Viet left was only enthusiasm, but poor finishing. Le Viktor was also given many opportunities, however, the young Ha Tinh star's handling in the penalty area was not convincing enough.
Throughout all 3 matches, U.23 Vietnam missed over 80% of the chances created. It can be said that U.23 Vietnam has a "golden head" with 5 goals scored by heading, but only found the opponent's net 2 times thanks to finishing with feet.
However, it is common for young players to be impatient and miss opportunities in Southeast Asia. In the other semi-final match between U.23 Indonesia and U.23 Thailand, both sides' strikers were confused and missed many shots, despite always being placed in favorable shooting positions. Unfortunately for U.23 Thailand, they wasted many opportunities in the second extra time, leading to a draw and a loss on penalties.
Even during the peak period under coach Park Hang-seo, U.23 Vietnam only had one tournament with a truly good striker. That was the 2019 SEA Games, where Mr. Park had the "double-barreled gun" Tien Linh and Duc Chinh (contributing 10 goals). By the 2022 SEA Games, U.23 Vietnam was so "hungry" for goals that despite calling up 3 overage players including Tien Linh, Hoang Duc, Hung Dung, they only scored 8 goals in 7 matches.
Dinh Bac has 2 goals
PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG
"Vietnamese football lacks good strikers", the comment of coach Park Hang-seo has told a story that has existed for decades, when V-League teams only focused on using foreign strikers.
Even famous strikers like Tien Linh and Cong Phuong have struggled for many years to gain a foothold, not to mention the U.23 strikers who have very few opportunities to compete, how can they accumulate experience and strengthen their character to cope with pressure?
Philippine press regrets for home team, praises U.23 Vietnam after dramatic semi-final match
Mr. Kim's solution
In the 2022 and 2023 U.23 Southeast Asian tournaments, U.23 Vietnam won the championship thanks to good defense, not good offense. Coach Dinh The Nam's team won the championship in 2022 thanks to the "golden" goal of midfielder Bao Toan, who is not often outstanding.
By 2023, U.23 Vietnam won the championship thanks to the dynamism of the duo Xuan Tien and Minh Quang. One of them was originally a midfielder and was then promoted to play as a false striker, while the other was a winger responsible for stirring up trouble to create opportunities. U.23 Vietnam still won thanks to good defense and backup scoring options.
That is also the formula to solve the problem that coach Kim Sang-sik is using. The Korean coach builds many diverse aerial attacks to take advantage of the physique of defenders over 1.8 m tall such as Ly Duc, Hieu Minh, Van Ha. At the same time, he encourages defenders and midfielders to increase their penetration into the penalty area to head the ball, while the strikers only play the role of "decoy".
Will coach Kim surprise U.23 Indonesia in the final?
PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG
In the goal that raised the score to 2-1 for U.23 Vietnam against U.23 Philippines, besides Xuan Bac (author of the successful header), there was also Ly Duc who rushed in ready to tear the opponent's net. A midfielder and a defender penetrated, while the strikers waited in the second line.
That shows that Mr. Kim shares the scoring task for all positions. Strikers like Dinh Bac and Quoc Viet are assigned the role of stirring up and attracting the opponent's defenders, to open up space for the rest to find goals.
U.23 Vietnam does not need a good striker to reach the final. And most likely, without a "bombing" striker, Mr. Kim and his team will also win the championship!
Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-cong-u23-viet-nam-chua-biet-cach-ghi-ban-bang-chan-dung-lo-thay-kim-co-cach-185250726124300181.htm
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