The team that defeated U.16 Man City created a big surprise

In particular, the opening match of the 2023 National U.21 Finals between host U.21 Thanh Hoa and U.21 PVF-CAND is considered the highlight match in the first round of the AU21 group. PVF-CAND unexpectedly fielded a very young squad, with 6 players born in 2007. Notably, these 16-year-old faces created an "earthquake" when they won against U.16 Man City and Aspire Academy (Qatar), and then won 3rd place at the Asian Stars tournament held in Shanghai (China). On the other side, U.21 Thanh Hoa has a core force of 19 and 20-year-old players.

U.21 quốc gia 2023: Lực lượng từng thắng U.16 Man City tạo bất ngờ lớn - Ảnh 1. — 16-year-old striker Nguyen Le Phat (right cover) played brilliantly and helped U.21 PVF-CAND beat host U.21 Thanh Hoa.

Despite facing a more experienced opponent, U.21 PVF-CAND was not inferior in terms of the game. Coach Nguyen Duy Dong's young team even surprised everyone by scoring an early goal. Just over 4 minutes after the whistle blew to start the match, under pressure from U.21 PVF-CAND, defender Nguyen Van Dung (U.21 Thanh Hoa) scored an own goal.

In the 18th minute, after a well-coordinated play, U.21 Thanh Hoa scored a goal to bring the match back to the starting line, thanks to Le Van Cuong's goal. After that, the two teams played an attractive offensive game. In the 80th minute, home team defender Nguyen Duc Tung made a serious mistake, and U.21 PVF-CAND's number 10 Tran Vu Ngoc Tai seized the opportunity to shoot into an empty net, scoring the final goal of the match. In the end, U.21 PVF-CAND won against the home team U.21 Thanh Hoa with a close score of 2-1.

U.21 quốc gia 2023: Lực lượng từng thắng U.16 Man City tạo bất ngờ lớn - Ảnh 2. — Thai Ba Dat, the 2023 Southeast Asian champion with U.23 Vietnam, was able to play from the second half.

In the remaining match of Group A taking place on the same afternoon at Hong Duc University Stadium (Thanh Hoa), U.21 Viettel met U.21 Tay Ninh. Before the match, U.21 Viettel was rated higher than U.21 Tay Ninh. This assessment was proven by Viettel's young players in the 5th minute. From the left wing, Nguyen Huu Tuan crossed the ball accurately into the penalty area for Nguyen Ngoc Tu to handle neatly and finish delicately, giving U.21 Viettel a very early 1-0 lead.

After scoring the opening goal, U.21 Viettel still completely dominated the game, with superior ball possession. Despite attacking a lot, coach Dang Thanh Phuong's team was quite stuck in finding a goal. It was not until the 43rd minute that U.21 Viettel's efforts were rewarded. Nguyen Ngoc Tu was the one who jumped high to head the ball to double the gap for U.21 Viettel before the match entered the half-time break.

U.21 quốc gia 2023: Lực lượng từng thắng U.16 Man City tạo bất ngờ lớn - Ảnh 3. — U.21 Viettel won a big victory against U.21 Tay Ninh in the opening match.

Trailing by 2 goals after the first 45 minutes, U.21 Tay Ninh still did not show any improvement in the second half. Meanwhile, U.21 Viettel, with the advantage of spirit, played more and more confidently. In the 69th minute, a teammate's mishandling accidentally brought the ball to a favorable position, Nguyen Thanh Dat seized the opportunity to sneak into the central area and fired a direct shot to defeat the goalkeeper of U.21 Tay Ninh, deepening the gap to 3-0 for U.21 Viettel. In the 90+1 minute, when U.21 Tay Ninh seemed to have given up, the young players of coach Dang Thanh Phuong had a coordination situation on the left wing as if there was no one there, before Vu Tung Duong rushed down and scored, sealing the victory with a score of 4-0 for U.21 Viettel.

With this result, after the first round of matches, U.21 Viettel temporarily rose to the top of Group A with 3 points and a goal difference of +4, U.21 PVF-CAND ranked second in the group with 3 points and a goal difference of +1, U.21 Thanh Hoa ranked 3rd (0 points, goal difference of -1), U.21 Tay Ninh was at the bottom of the group (0 points, goal difference of -4).

Images of the opening ceremony: