Coach Gyotoku Koji: 'The gap between Vietnam and Cambodia is too big'

Coach Gyotoku Koji said that the gap between U23 Vietnam and U23 Cambodia was too big, so he was not surprised when his students lost to the "golden star warriors".

Coach Gyotoku Koji commented that U23 Vietnam is much better than U23 Cambodia. Photo: Tam Minh .

“Before the ball rolled, I knew it would be very difficult because U23 Vietnam is a very strong team. Every individual is very good and the whole team is well organized. The difference between U23 Vietnam and Cambodia is huge,” coach Gyotoku Koji shared at the press conference after the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Cambodia on the evening of July 22.

Although they could not create any surprises, the young Cambodian players still caused many difficulties for U23 Vietnam. The team in blue played fiercely, equalized after falling behind and only lost in the final minutes after Dinh Bac scored.

“Vietnam is much stronger than us. Excellent individual skills. Very good tactics. Players number 7 (Dinh Bac), number 8 (Van Truong), number 11 (Van Khang), number 20 (Anh Quan) are all very good,” Mr. Koji added.

Despite stopping at U23 Southeast Asia, coach Gyotoku Koji said this will be a playground for his students to gain experience. This coach affirmed that U23 Cambodia will continue to aim for long-term goals: “We could not pass the group stage. But we still have important tournaments ahead to try. We need to run more, try harder and work harder.”

Coach Koji also assessed Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia as the top candidates for the championship in this tournament.

The 2-1 victory over Cambodia helped U23 Vietnam take the top spot in Group B. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will face U23 Philippines in the semi-finals at 4:00 p.m. on July 25.

Source: https://znews.vn/hlv-gyotoku-koji-khoang-cach-giua-viet-nam-va-cambodia-qua-lon-post1570853.html