Latest: U.23 Vietnam meets Indonesia at the 'fire pit' Gelora Bung Karno

The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) confirmed that the Vietnam U.23 team will defend the championship title of the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament held at two stadiums, the "fire pan" Gelora Bung Karno and Patriot Candrabhaga.

Khuat Van Khang with 4 goals in V-League 2024 - 2025 is a pillar of the Vietnam U.23 team

Photo: Ngoc Duong

U.23 Vietnam: Finalizing the venue for the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament

The venue for the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament has been constantly changing. As a result, PSSI has agreed that the Vietnam U.23 team and regional opponents will not compete at the Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo as most recently planned.

Instead, 11 teams in the region participating in the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament will compete on two football fields including the "fire pan" Gelora Bung Karno in the capital Jakarta and Patriot Candrabhaga stadium in Bekasi, a satellite city of Jakarta.

Also, the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament will not be divided into 2 groups like the AFF Cup, but will divide 11 teams into 3 groups, in which the host team U.23 Indonesia will be in a group of 3 teams, the remaining 2 groups will each have 4 teams.

Coach Kim Sang-sik will directly lead the U.23 Vietnam team to defend the regional gold medal for the first time.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

If nothing changes, it is expected that the host team U.23 Indonesia will default to play at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium - a famous stadium with an initial capacity of 110,000 seats, once the 7th largest in the world . The current capacity of the stadium after renovation is 77,193 seats.

As the defending champion of the last two tournaments held in 2020 and 2023, the U.23 Vietnam team will be in the number 1 seed group, meaning they will not be in the same group with the host U.23 Indonesia.

At this point, it is still unclear whether the U.23 Vietnam team will play at Gelora Bung Karno or the 30,000-seat Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium, nearly 27 km away. But our goal will remain the same: to successfully defend the championship, aiming for a third consecutive title.

See you again U.23 Indonesia in the final

Viktor Le is in good form for Ha Tinh Club.

Photo: Minh Tran

It is expected that the specific group and competition venues of the teams in the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament will be clearly determined after the draw on May 30. The U.23 Vietnam team itself is currently capable of competing at both of the above stadiums, with the promise to meet U.23 Indonesia again in the final at the "fire pan" of Gelora Bung Karno.

We will certainly be the center of attention, especially after defeating Indonesia in the penalty shootout 2 years ago, successfully defending the championship and becoming the most successful team in the history of the tournament with a total of 2 championships (Thailand and Indonesia only have 1).

Also, Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium has witnessed beautiful memories of the Vietnam U.23 team, being the venue for the 1-0 victories over Bahrain and Syria in the round of 16 and quarter-finals of men's football at the 2018 ASIAD, helping us reach the semi-finals of the ASIAD for the first time.

The Vietnam U.23 team just had a successful tournament in China.

Photo: VFF

Coach Kim Sang-sik will certainly want to continue this relationship from his predecessor Park Hang-seo, because the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament will be the first time Mr. Kim directly leads the Vietnam U.23 team, after the interim leader Dinh Hong Vinh did very well.

At the invitational tournament in China last March, interim coach Dinh Hong Vinh helped the U.23 Vietnam team have 3 commendable unbeaten matches against very strong teams in Asia: Korea, Uzbekistan and China.

With that form, and the addition of a series of Vietnamese national team stars such as Van Khang, Trung Kien, Thai Son... or Duc Viet, Dinh Bac recovering from injuries, the U.23 Vietnam team promises to bring even more impressive performances, in a busy 2025 with a series of important goals.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/moi-nhat-u23-viet-nam-hen-indonesia-tai-chao-lua-gelora-bung-karno-185250427103637652.htm