Considered the strongest team in Group B and also the defending champion of the tournament, a victory is of course the goal of U23 Vietnam in the opening match. Coach Kim Sang Sik and his team have many advantages before the match with a longer break than the other team. More importantly, U23 Vietnam also has the opportunity to observe and analyze the playing style of U23 Laos when the team from the land of a million elephants had a previous match with U23 Cambodia.
In fact, coach Ha Hyeokjun of Laos U23 also frankly admitted that his team was rated lower than U23 Vietnam and U23 Cambodia in all aspects. However, U23 Laos still came to the tournament with the determination to learn, improve themselves and create surprises. This is also an advantage of U23 Laos because they will compete with a relaxed mentality when they do not have to bear too much pressure in terms of results.
When the ball started rolling on the Patriot Candrabhaga field (Indonesia), U23 Laos immediately deployed a defensive formation with a 5-4-1 formation. This was not a surprise to coach Kim Sang Sik, but the way the Korean strategist broke the defensive style of play of the team from the land of a million elephants surprised many people.
The captain's armband was given to Khuat Van Khang, and center-back Nguyen Nhat Minh was also in the starting lineup. Both Van Khang and Nhat Minh have a lot of time competing in V.league, and that experience is important for the opening match of U23 Vietnam in this tournament.
Facing a defense that had almost all 11 players of U23 Laos, U23 Vietnam used a diverse attacking style and in an attacking situation like that, the net of the red team shook. Nhat Minh sent an extremely uncomfortable cross from the left wing, the ball hit a Lao player's foot and then reached Khuat Van Khang's position. The captain of U23 Vietnam did not miss the opportunity to score the opening goal for the defending champions.
The advantage of leading helped U23 Vietnam relieve the pressure of training, the white team continued to dominate the game. Statistics show that, at one point in the first half, U23 Vietnam controlled the ball up to 91% of the time, making nearly 6 times more passes than the opposing team. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien's goal was almost unthreatening in the first half.
The superiority of U23 Vietnam was maintained after the break. After about 15 minutes of the second half playing at a slow pace, U23 Vietnam began to accelerate. The ability to control the ball as well as an effective midfield helped the white team create great pressure on the U23 Laos goal. And then what had to happen happened in the 70th minute, in a set piece situation, Dinh Bac's cross created an opportunity for Hieu Minh to jump high and head the ball into the U23 Laos net.
Laos U23's physical strength clearly decreased in the second half, creating conditions for coach Kim Sang Sik's team to more easily launch attacks. The third goal came to the white team after a chaotic situation in the Laos U23 penalty area, Hieu Minh once again spoke up with a finish from the second line to help Vietnam U23 set the score at 3-0.
The performance of U23 Vietnam shows the efforts of coach Kim Sang Sik and his colleagues in the past time. The Korean strategist has found the most suitable personnel for U23 Vietnam's journey this time, and the players have also formed a link between the lines.
The victory over U23 Laos may not be a convincing result, but it is a really good start for U23 Vietnam in this tournament. With this result, U23 Vietnam temporarily climbed to the top of Group B. U23 Vietnam only needs to draw in the match with U23 Cambodia on the evening of July 22 to win a ticket to the semi-finals as the top team of Group B.
Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/tin-hieu-tich-cuc-tu-u23-viet-nam-sau-chien-thang-mo-man-i775305/
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