Challenge for U23 Vietnam

U23 Vietnam - Photo 1.

Vietnam U23 players need to seize the opportunity against Philippines U23 - Photo: ANH KHOA

Not highly rated, but U23 Philippines made history when entering the semi-finals of the U23 Southeast Asia for the first time.

"The strength of U23 Philippines is counter-attacking defense with striker Otu Banatao and midfielder Javier Mariona being very dangerous. U23 Vietnam's defenders need to be very focused to lock down these two players," coach Kim Sang Sik commented about his opponent.

Tough opponent

In a difficult group A, U23 Philippines has successfully defeated U23 Malaysia to win second place behind host U23 Indonesia to reach the semi-finals. Under the guidance of coach Garrath McPherson, despite having 14 student players, U23 Philippines still proved to be a tough opponent.

Specifically, U23 Malaysia, despite controlling the ball up to 70%, was still stuck against the solid and disciplined defense of U23 Philippines. And then paid the price with two goals conceded after two exemplary counter-attacks from the opponent.

Even U23 Indonesia had to sweat to beat U23 Philippines 1-0 thanks to an own goal by defender Rosquillo.

Three players who play important roles in the U23 Philippines' defensive counter-attacking style of play are central midfielder John Lucero (born in England and currently playing in Thailand), attacking midfielder Javier Mariona (currently playing in the US) and striker Otu Banatao (Old Dominion University, US).

With two goals against U23 Malaysia, Otu Banatao showed that he will be a big danger to the defense of U23 Vietnam.

Against U23 Cambodia, who were considered weaker, the U23 Vietnam defense conceded a goal from a header from a corner kick. And now, against U23 Philippines, who have good physique and are good at playing high balls, the U23 Vietnam defense must play even more focused.

Especially in the context that U23 Vietnam may not have the strongest defense because center back Pham Ly Duc has an ankle problem and needs to be monitored further in the training session on the evening of July 24.

Waiting for the true appearance of U23 Vietnam

Despite winning against U23 Laos and Cambodia to enter the semi-finals as group winners, the playing style of U23 Vietnam still leaves many experts and fans worried. Because coach Kim Sang Sik's team still has difficulty scoring goals, especially the attack line despite creating many scoring opportunities.

Unlike U23 Laos or Cambodia, with a solid playing style and emphasis on discipline, the Philippines promises to continue playing defensive counter-attacks. This requires U23 Vietnam, in addition to building a solid defense, to make efforts in launching attacks and taking advantage of scoring opportunities.

Since the beginning of the tournament, U23 Vietnam has almost only played on one wing. And the 2 goals from the coordination of U23 Vietnam both came from the left wing. In which, left-sided center-back Nhat Minh joined the attack and passed to Khuat Van Khang to score in the victory over U23 Laos. Then, Thanh Dat passed to Dinh Bac to head the ball in the victory over U23 Cambodia.

Therefore, if the Philippines can figure it out, U23 Vietnam needs to have a plan 2 or deploy more diverse attacks.

Even scoring from set pieces (the central defenders scored 3 goals from corner kicks) is not easy to apply against U23 Philippines, which has carefully studied Vietnam's playing style.

"I have a plan to prevent set pieces from Vietnam U23. Philippines U23 also has players who are good at aerial combat. Let's wait and see how we neutralize that weapon of Vietnam U23," coach Garrath McPherson affirmed.

Compared to previous friendly tournaments and training matches, Coach Kim Sang Sik arranged the attack line quite differently in both group stage matches. Dinh Bac was sometimes assigned to play as a striker, which is not his forte. Viktor Le also played as a striker instead of his forte on the left wing. Quoc Viet was pushed to the right wing instead of playing as a striker.

The goal that Dinh Bac scored in the victory over U23 Cambodia only came when he played as a left forward. Hopefully, that was a hidden trick by coach Kim Sang Sik. And now is the time for Mr. Kim to launch the strongest lineup of U23 Vietnam to open the door to the championship goal.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thu-thach-cho-u23-viet-nam-20250725105823882.htm