U23 Philippines Coach: 'We have a plan to deal with U23 Vietnam'

TPO - Ahead of the semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, head coach Garrath McPherson affirmed that the Philippines U23 team has prepared "playbook" to face the Vietnam U23 team, a team he highly appreciates.

“Vietnam U23 has many players who have played for the national team and played in the national championship. They are very well organized and especially dangerous in set pieces," coach McPherson shared at the press conference. "But we also have a plan to deal with it. Our squad has good aerial players, and we will try to neutralize this strength of the opponent."

The Philippines U23 team is an interesting phenomenon of this year's tournament. They won a ticket to the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian U23 for the first time in history with the second place in Group A when they defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the opening match, only losing 0-1 to the host Indonesia from an own goal and closing the group stage with a 2-0 victory over Brunei.

Coach McPherson admitted that the U23 Philippines were not highly regarded at first, but the team has shown progress through each match: “I am proud of the solidarity and efforts of the players. Many of them have played internationally, participating in the AFF Cup. They have good skills, tactical vision and impressive dribbling ability. However, the important thing is that we have a balanced squad with 23 players who are ready to contribute.”

According to coach Garrath McPherson, the U23 Philippines played three matches in the group stage and had a day off before the semi-finals. The team received great support from home and that gave the players more strength.

According to the schedule, the semi-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Philippines will take place at 4:00 p.m. on July 25 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta).

Source: https://tienphong.vn/hlv-u23-philippines-chung-toi-co-ke-hoach-doi-pho-u23-viet-nam-post1763293.tpo