Coach Garrath McPherson at the press conference - Photo: ANH KHOA
On the evening of July 25, the U23 Philippines team lost 1-2 to U23 Vietnam in the semi-finals of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship held in Indonesia. U23 Philippines took the lead but could not defend the result.
Speaking after the match, coach Garrath McPherson could not hide his regret. He said: "We are very sad, we believed we could win this match, with the quality of the current squad".
"U23 Vietnam is a strong team, deploying good attacks. We tried to break that but failed. Maybe U23 Philippines needs more training," the Australian coach added.
Despite losing to U23 Vietnam, the U23 Philippines team also made history by reaching the semi-finals of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament for the first time.
Coach Garrath McPherson believes the young players of the Philippines had a memorable experience at the tournament. Especially against the reigning champions U23 Vietnam.
"We have a squad with some players from university teams, many young players. This is an opportunity for the players to learn real-life experience," he said.
The U23 Philippines played well against the defending champions, so I think the players will learn a lot. This is also good preparation for the upcoming U23 Asian qualifiers and SEA Games 33."
Regarding the upcoming final match, coach Garrath McPherson highly appreciated the U23 Vietnam team and U23 Indonesia, the two teams that U23 Philippines faced in the tournament.
He said: "Both U23 Indonesia and U23 Vietnam are very strong. Of which, U23 Vietnam controls the game well. When they have the ball in the opponent's field, they are very dangerous."
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-u23-philippines-noi-pha-vo-bat-thanh-cac-dot-tan-cong-cua-u23-viet-nam-20250725192943197.htm
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