Mr. Kim wants U.23 Vietnam to convincingly defeat Yemen, abandoning the peace-seeking mentality

The fact that U.23 Vietnam maintained the top position in Group C of the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship qualifiers puts significant pressure on U.23 Yemen before the 'final' match at 7:00 p.m. on September 9.

Ngoc My (19) scored the first goal for the Vietnam U.23 team in the 2026 U.23 Asia qualifiers

Photo: Minh Tu

Advantages of U.23 Vietnam

After the first two rounds, the U.23 Vietnam team has not played as explosively as expected, but is ranked above its opponent U.23 Yemen in Group C, the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship qualifiers, with the same 6 points but a better goal difference (+3 compared to +2).

The difference is only 1 goal, but it is a big difference. With no other choice, U.23 Yemen has only one choice: to beat U.23 Vietnam if they want to get a ticket to the final round of the 2026 AFC U-23 Championship.

On the contrary, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team have two options, because if they achieve a result from a draw to a win against U.23 Yemen, they will ensure they finish Group C in first place, which means a direct ticket to Saudi Arabia early next year.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is carefully calculating the steps for U.23 Vietnam.

Photo: Minh Tu

This will create a significant advantage for the U.23 Vietnam team to come up with a reasonable approach to the match against an opponent who will have to look for a goal if they want to turn the tables on the night of September 9.

It can be imagined that the U.23 Vietnam team will enter the match with preemptive attacks in the first 5 minutes, before the match gradually develops in a tug-of-war trend, with a series of fierce disputes in all positions.

Over time, when the opponent shows impatience and starts to raise the pressure to find a scoring opportunity, it will be the time for fast attackers like Dinh Bac, Van Khang, Thanh Nhan, Ngoc My... to exploit the space behind the defense.

U.23 Vietnam does not want a draw

Thanh Nhan has not scored yet but is playing well.

Photo: Minh Tu

However, it would be wrong to assume that coach Kim Sang-sik will direct the U.23 Vietnam team to play with a draw mentality in the upcoming match. Simply put, this idea contains too many risks because just one moment of carelessness will cause all the efforts in the 3 matches to "go down the drain".

Everyone knows that the U.23 Vietnam team will play at home in Viet Tri, receiving enthusiastic support from nearly 20,000 passionate fans from Phu Tho province and neighboring localities. In that atmosphere, the U.23 Vietnam team will be given a lot of strength.

In addition to the ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, Coach Kim Sang-sik also wants a convincing victory to thank the audience for their support. Every player knows that as soon as he discovers the opponent's weakness, he will immediately direct them to dig deep into it and exploit it thoroughly in order to find a goal.

Bustling atmosphere at Viet Tri stadium

Photo: Minh Tu

The advantage is that the strikers of the U.23 Vietnam team are all in good form. Ngoc My, Le Viktor and Van Thuan scored in the 2 matches against U.23 Bangladesh and U.23 Singapore while Dinh Bac, Van Khang, Thanh Nhan… are all playing well and eager to get their names on the scoreboard.

Once the lead is reached, the U.23 Vietnam team will take the initiative on the field, while the U.23 Yemen team will be forced to accept to push up to find at least 2 goals to turn the game around. At that time, the opportunity for us to make quick transitions will become much clearer.

One thing is for sure, after testing and rotating the squad to maintain the core strength after the first two matches, Coach Kim Sang-sik will field the strongest U.23 Vietnam team. All will aim to bring a convincing victory for U.23 Vietnam.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-kim-muon-u23-viet-nam-thang-thuyemen-bo-tam-ly-cau-hoa-185250907202224658.htm