Third time for U23 Vietnam?

The U23 Vietnam team will be crowned for the third consecutive time if they defeat Indonesia in the final match taking place at 8pm today (July 29, FPT Play & VTV5 THTT). But with home field advantage, U23 Indonesia will also do everything to be crowned.

Vietnam U23 team actively practices for the final match - Photo: ANH KHOA

The 5-6 defeat against U23 Vietnam in the penalty shootout in the final match of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Thailand (0-0 draw after 120 minutes) further motivated host Indonesia to be determined to win.

Battle of the attack

U23 Vietnam and Indonesia both have the highest ball possession rate, have the most shots and have scored the most goals since the beginning of the tournament. U23 Indonesia has scored 10 goals in 4 matches, while U23 Vietnam has scored 7 goals in 3 matches. But coincidentally, the main strikers of both teams have problems with finishing.

Specifically, striker Quoc Viet has yet to score after 3 matches, while U23 Indonesia is too dependent on the finishing ability of Dutch-born striker Jens Raven. This 1m89 tall striker scored 6 goals against U23 Brunei in the 8-0 win in the group stage and only scored once against U23 Thailand in the semi-finals. The remaining two "goalless" matches were against U23 Philippines (won 1-0 thanks to the opponent's own goal) and Malaysia (drawn 0-0).

This shows that, facing a well-organized defense, the U23 Indonesia attack immediately showed signs of being stuck. More importantly, Jens Raven also left open the possibility of playing in the final match when he limped off the field after the exhausting victory against U23 Thailand in the semi-final. If this 20-year-old striker does not play, the home team will have more difficulties when the remaining strikers such as Hokky Caraka and Rahmat Arjunac have played quite often in the past matches.

Meanwhile, the U23 Vietnam and Indonesia defenses both played very well. The central defender trio Nhat Minh - Hieu Minh - Ly Duc only conceded 2 goals. The central defender pair Kakang Rudianto (1m85) - Kadek Arel (1m84) were even better, conceding only 1 goal. Therefore, improving the finishing ability of the attack is a vital task for both coach Kim Sang Sik and coach Gerald Vanenburg if they want to win the final match.

Can coach Kim Sang Sik defeat U23 Indonesia? - Photo: VFF

Interesting battle of wits

Coach Kim Sang Sik led the Vietnamese team to victory right on Thai soil in the second leg of the 2024 ASEAN Cup final when he beat the home team 3-2. And now the Korean coach has the opportunity to win the championship with the U23 Vietnam team in Indonesia in his first time in charge.

However, this will not be an easy match as he himself admitted in the press conference before the match. "The final will be more tense and pressured, so the fighting spirit is very important. The whole team will try to overcome this challenge," said coach Kim Sang Sik.

In the previous four matches, the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium had the most spectators, just over 27,000, in the decisive match against U23 Malaysia in the final round of Group A. The semi-final match against U23 Thailand had just under 11,000 spectators. However, the final match against U23 Vietnam promises to be the most crowded since the beginning of the tournament. Because Indonesian fans want to cheer and see their team defeat U23 Vietnam to win the championship after missing out on the final in 2023.

With the great support of the home audience, U23 Indonesia, an opponent that cannot be underestimated, will play with more excitement than ever. This puts coach Kim Sang Sik and his team under great pressure. Therefore, just a moment of lack of concentration can make things very dangerous. Although there may be a few key players missing due to injury, including important midfielder Arkhan Fikri, under the resourcefulness of coach Gerald Vanenburg, U23 Indonesia will not be weakened because of that.

But U23 Vietnam is ready for victory. Although there are still many things to improve, the U23 Vietnam team has been playing better and better, showing the great tactical mark of coach Kim Sang Sik. And it is not impossible that the Korean coach will have another surprise in the playing style for U23 Indonesia. Bringing Viktor Le - a Vietnamese-Russian star who did not play well in the previous 3 matches - to the press conference before the match is also a sign that coach Kim Sang Sik has for the final match.

The attacking strength of U23 Vietnam is the passes from both wings with great accuracy. So once the strikers inside finish more accurately, victory will come to coach Kim Sang Sik's team.

Apply VAR to the match

Given the tense nature of the final match, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and the tournament organizers decided to apply video assistant referee (VAR) technology to help improve accuracy in important situations and enhance fairness and transparency for the tournament.

Back to topic

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lan-thu-3-cho-u23-viet-nam-20250729100018865.htm