How formidable is the U.23 Philippines team, and who should coach Kim Sang-sik and his players be wary of?

For the first time in history, both Philippine football teams have reached the semi-finals at a SEA Games, with the U23 men's team facing the gold medal favorite, Vietnam's U23 team, and the women's team battling the host nation, Thailand.

U.23 Philippines should not be underestimated; U.23 Vietnam faces a very formidable opponent.

According to CNN Indonesia, the Indonesian U23 team suffered a bitter defeat, despite being warned about the danger posed by the Philippines U23 team, having to accept a 0-1 loss on December 8th in Group C of the men's football tournament at the 33rd SEA Games.

Nguyen Dinh Bac (7) and U.23 Vietnam will face U.23 Philippines again at SEA Games 33, after having won 2-1 in the semi-finals of the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament in July in Indonesia.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

The young "Azkals" (the nickname of the Philippines U.23 team) have a concise, fast-paced playing style with effective attacks, based on a squad of experienced players, with as many as 14 having participated in major international tournaments.

Among them, they have five players currently playing for the Philippine national team, including attacking midfielder Sandro Reyes, forward Dylan Dmuynck, midfielder Javier Mariona, defender Santiago Runlico, and forward Otu Banatao.

Banatao was also the one who scored the only goal that helped the Philippines U23 team defeat Indonesia U23 1-0 on December 8th. This officially secured their place in the semi-finals as group C winners after two consecutive wins. In their opening match, the "Azkals" also convincingly defeated Myanmar U23 2-0.

The U23 Philippines squad is considered experienced, with a total of 7 players having participated in the last two SEA Games. Among them, Sandro Reyes and defender Jaime Rosquillo (both currently 22 years old according to the SEA Games 33 regulations) have already competed in SEA Games 31 (2022 in Hanoi , Vietnam). The other 5 players who participated in SEA Games 32 in 2023 in Cambodia are Noah Leddel, Santiago Rublico, Gavin Muens, John Lucero, and Andres Aldeguer.

The U23 Philippine team participating in the 33rd SEA Games, similar to the women's team, has a majority of players of overseas origin (mostly from the US and European countries). Although they don't play for major clubs, their quality is considered a strength, CNN Indonesia reported.

The U23 Philippines team could disrupt the plans of U23 Vietnam (in red), U23 Thailand, and even U23 Indonesia.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

This has been quite clearly demonstrated, as with the Philippine women's national team, thanks to a squad of "Filipino expatriate" players returning from the US, Canada, and Europe, including some naturalized citizens with African ancestry, which has made them extremely difficult to beat.

The "Filipinas" (the nickname of the Philippine women's national team) caused a shock by winning 1-0 against Vietnam, and then went on to beat Malaysia 6-0 to advance to the semi-finals of the women's football tournament at the 33rd SEA Games. Here, the "Filipinas" will certainly be a significant challenge for the host nation Thailand as they seek a chance to reach the final (playing at 6:30 PM on December 14th). Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, the Vietnamese women's team demonstrated their class by defeating Myanmar 2-0 to secure their place in the next round and top spot in the group. They will face Indonesia at 4 PM on December 14th.

Will the Philippines U23 team successfully take revenge on Vietnam U23?

Meanwhile, the Philippines U23 men's team will face Vietnam U23 in the semi-finals of the men's football tournament. Coach Garrath McPherson's team will have a significant advantage: they will have had over a week of rest after the group stage matches, which concluded on December 8th.

While the Vietnam U23 team had a long break before their match against Malaysia U23 on December 11th, now in the semi-finals, coach Kim Sang-sik's team only has about 3 days of complete rest to recover before the semi-final match (at 3:30 PM on November 15th).

Recovery is a key factor for the Vietnam U23 team ahead of the crucial match against the Philippines U23 team, who have had many days of rest and are in excellent health.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

Physical fitness and strength are the strengths of the Philippines U23 team. They demonstrated this clearly in their match against Indonesia U23, a team that also boasts a squad of naturalized players from the Netherlands and is tall and strong, but was completely ineffective against the Philippines U23's pressing, pragmatic, yet highly effective style of play.

"Another factor that shouldn't be underestimated is the ambition of the Philippines U23 team at the SEA Games 33, as they are eager to avenge what happened in the U23 Asian qualifiers in September when they were painfully eliminated after a narrow 1-2 defeat against Syria U23."

Besides that, it's also a revenge match for the loss to Vietnam U23 in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian U23 Championship in July in Indonesia, also with a close score of 1-2. At that time, two players named Bac – Nguyen Dinh Bac and Nguyen Xuan Bac – scored for Vietnam U23. Mariona opened the scoring for the Philippines U23, but ultimately lost because of the two players named Bac from Vietnam U23," according to CNN Indonesia.

The rematch between the Philippines U23 and Vietnam U23 in the semi-finals of the men's football tournament at the 33rd SEA Games promises to be very dramatic and full of surprises. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team must put in maximum effort, as this is a much stronger opponent than Malaysia U23 and extremely difficult to beat.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-philippines-dang-ngai-co-nao-thay-tro-hlv-kim-sang-sik-phai-canh-giac-nhung-ai-185251212105222483.htm