Defensive Mark
Compared to regional opponents such as U.23 Thailand or U.23 Indonesia, U.23 Vietnam is in a group that is not too "difficult to breathe" at the 2024 U.23 Asian Cup finals.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team will face two evenly matched opponents, U.23 Kuwait and U.23 Malaysia. Even in the years when they reached the final (2018) or the quarterfinals (2022), U.23 Vietnam was not in a group with favorable opponents and schedule like now.
However, whether in a difficult or easy group, the formula for success for U.23 Vietnam or the young teams that coach Hoang Anh Tuan has led in the Asian playground is only one: solid defense, prioritizing the task of keeping a clean sheet to get points.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan instructs defenders on proper marking
First of all, with U.23 Vietnam, in all 3 recent finals, the whole team had a very good defensive record in the group stage. In the U.23 Asian finals in 2018, 2020 and 2022, U.23 Vietnam conceded 2 goals, 2 goals and 3 goals. Of which, only in 2020, U.23 Vietnam was eliminated in the group stage due to the unimpressive performance of the attack (scoring 1 goal). In 2018 and 2022, the players scored 2 and 5 goals respectively, thereby earning a place in the quarterfinals.
With the youth teams of coach Hoang Anh Tuan, the defensive mark is even more evident. In the 2016 U.19 Asian Cup, where U.19 Vietnam created a miracle by reaching the semi-finals, U.19 Vietnam only conceded 2 goals in the group stage, despite facing strong opponents such as U.19 DPRK, U.19 UAE and U.19 Iraq.
The optimal lineup of U.23 Vietnam for the 2024 U.23 Asian Cup finals
At the 2023 U.20 Asian Cup, although U.20 Vietnam was eliminated, they defeated U.20 Australia (1-0) and U.20 Qatar (2-1) thanks to a solid defense despite the average age of the 3 central defenders being only 18.6 years old. At the 2023 U.23 Southeast Asian Cup, U.23 Vietnam won the championship with only 2 goals conceded on the entire championship journey.
U.23 Vietnam has quality central defenders
With a solid defense, every goal scored will have maximum value. If they can defend as well as in previous tournaments (only conceding 2 or 3 goals after 3 group stage matches), U.23 Vietnam has a good chance of reaching the quarterfinals.
Waiting for coach Hoang Anh Tuan to assemble
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan will assemble what defensive framework for U.23 Vietnam, that is still a big question mark. However, if based on the previous style of using people of the strategist from Khanh Hoa , it is possible to shape some positions.
The left and right flanks will belong to Khuat Van Khang and Ho Van Cuong, two strikers who played very consistently in the 2023 U.20 Asian Cup, had at least 2 "test" seasons in the V-League and were once called up to the Vietnam national team.
With the ability to persistently climb the sidelines, the sensitive attacking support of Van Cuong and the mindset of a passer like Van Khang, U.23 Vietnam is expected to attack diversely on the sidelines.
Van Khang (blue shirt) and Van Cuong are good strikers on the two wings.
The identity of the trio of central defenders will be more difficult to predict, but will most likely be built according to the formula: the player playing "sweeping" in the center of the defense must have the ability to cover and command like Luong Duy Cuong or Tran Quang Thinh, and the two central defenders on the left side need to have good fighting ability like Nguyen Ngoc Thang (right) and Le Nguyen Hoang (left).
In the 0-0 draw with U.23 Jordan, coach Hoang Anh Tuan experimented with many central defender trios and achieved positive results. According to the 56-year-old strategist, in addition to the human factor, U.23 Vietnam also needs a reasonable formation distance, synchronized and effective off-ball movement. With a good formation distance, U.23 Vietnam can operate an effective defense without depending on and fixing any factor.
U.23 Vietnam will defend firmly according to the "brand" of Coach Hoang Anh Tuan to decide the matches that need to be won.
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