U.23 Vietnam has not yet 'released' its full strength: Don't be quick to criticize

The hard-fought victory over Laos certainly could not satisfy most fans of the Vietnam U.23 team. However, everything has just begun.

Why is the Vietnam U.23 team struggling?

At the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, the Vietnam U23 team defeated Laos 3-0 thanks to goals from Van Khang and Hieu Minh (double). At the 33rd SEA Games, coach Kim Sang-sik's students still won all 3 points, but the score was shortened to 1-2. Many people even believe that if there was VAR support, Dinh Bac's second goal would not have been recognized and the Vietnam U23 team would have left Rajamangala Stadium with only 1 point.

Obviously, Laos has made certain progress, that is undeniable and coach Ha Hyeok-jun's students deserve to be praised. However, the U.23 Vietnam team is still in the upper position, still completely dominates the match and creates many opportunities. The positions of the two teams are different, so the approach to the match will also be different. While the U.23 Vietnam team has the right to hide their cards, Laos must play their best to keep their hope of going further.

Cutting and finishing is not Quoc Viet's strong point.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

The U.23 Vietnam team will attack more strongly when Dinh Bac plays as a striker. He has many good positions in the penalty area and finishes very well.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

In fact, the U.23 Vietnam team has not yet deployed its strongest lineup. Quoc Viet, a striker who is good at playing on the wing, was placed as a striker, a position that usually belongs to Dinh Bac. If we observe carefully, we can see that Quoc Viet has not yet created sharp moves and shots after crosses and crosses from his teammates. Meanwhile, Dinh Bac accelerated very quickly, making it impossible for the opposing defenders to stop him, to receive Minh Phuc's favorable cross and score the opening goal.

In the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship and the 2026 U.23 Asian qualifiers, the Vietnam U.23 team was strongest when playing with the full-back pair Anh Quan - Phi Hoang. At that time, Van Khang was placed as a left winger, often moving into the middle to support ball control. Against Laos, Anh Quan and Phi Hoang were both on the bench while still maintaining good form, while Van Khang had to play as a left-back. This affected the attacking power of the Vietnam U.23 team. In general, the Vietnam U.23 team did not put all their efforts into the match against Laos, so it was understandable that they struggled to win.

Another objective factor is that the Rajamangala pitch does not guarantee quality. A U.23 Vietnam player shared with Thanh Nien reporter that the grass in this tournament is quite soft, causing it to loosen, making the handling of the game unsatisfactory.

Rajamangala field is soft, making it easy for U.23 Vietnam players to slip off the post.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

Habits of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team

Remember, in the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, the U.23 Vietnam team also faced many difficulties against Laos in the opening match. After Van Khang's goal in the first half, fans had to wait until the end of the second half to celebrate. At that time, the U.23 Vietnam team also did not operate the tactics well. Some new players such as Anh Quan were still confused and under pressure, so they could not show their true abilities.

But the further into the match, the more confident and certain the U.23 Vietnam team played. And then in the final match, coach Kim Sang-sik's students did not give U.23 Indonesia any chance to "struggle" to win the championship. Most importantly, in times of deadlock and difficulty, the Korean coach always knew how to adjust and manage so that the U.23 Vietnam team could achieve the best results.

The journey of the U.23 Vietnam team has just begun. Van Khang and his teammates still have 1 week to prepare for the new competition with Malaysia. At that time, the young "Golden Star Warriors" will certainly play much better.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-chua-bung-het-suc-manh-dung-voi-chi-trich-185251204191612177.htm