Coach Hoang Anh Tuan wants to improve the level of U23 Vietnam players

With the goal of defeating U23 Malaysia in the semi-finals of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, coach Hoang Anh Tuan of U23 Vietnam also revealed his view that through this tournament, he will improve the skills of young Vietnamese players.

Vietnam U23 coach Hoang Anh Tuan (red shirt) and Malaysia U23 coach Elavarasan at a press conference for the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 semi-finals. (Source: VFF)

Before the semi-final match of the U23 Asian Cup, between U23 Vietnam and U23 Malaysia at 4pm tomorrow (August 24), coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "First, I want to congratulate the players present in the semi-finals. My point of view is that I want U23 Vietnam to show good form tomorrow."

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan added: "Tomorrow, it will be better for us if U23 Vietnam defeats Malaysia. However, the most important thing for me is that through this tournament, we develop ourselves."

This is the point of view that coach Hoang Anh Tuan mentioned from the beginning, before participating in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament this year. Mr. Tuan wants to create opportunities for young players, those who are still "unknown" to compete in international tournaments.

Tournaments like this will give young players more experience and courage, so they can mature and aim for further goals.

That is the reason why coach Hoang Anh Tuan used the U20 team as the core for the Vietnam U23 team to participate in the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "My point of view is to try to improve the level of young players, bringing them closer to Asian level."

After the match with U23 Philippines yesterday (August 22), Coach Hoang Anh Tuan mentioned a number of things that he was not satisfied with, including Nguyen Van Truong's reaction when the U23 Vietnam striker often argued with Filipino players.

However, when asked about this issue at the press conference before the semi-final match held this morning (August 23) in Rayong (Thailand), coach Hoang Anh Tuan cleverly replied: "Right now I'm only thinking about tomorrow's match."

"You will see my specific plan in tomorrow's semi-final match. Right now, I have forgotten about yesterday (laughs)," Coach Hoang Anh Tuan cleverly did not mention his student's mistake.

The semi-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Malaysia will take place at 4pm on August 24 at Rayong Stadium. The other semi-final match between Thailand and Indonesia will also take place at the same stadium at 8pm on the same day.