U22 Vietnam lost, signaling a generation of 'no stars, few titles'

The painful defeat of U22 Vietnam of course brought a feeling of disappointment to the fans. However, the fact that coach Philippe Troussier and his team stopped before the final match was not actually a surprise to experts.

U22 Vietnam lost the match, signaling a generation of 'no stars, few titles' - 1 — U22 Vietnam lost to U22 Indonesia. (Photo: The Son)

The U22 Vietnam players competing at the 32nd SEA Games are clearly inferior to their seniors, both individually and collectively. That is something that even coach Philippe Troussier had to admit.

The starting point of Huynh Cong Den and his teammates was not to defeat Thailand, Australia like Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong or to qualify for the World Cup like Quang Hai, Hoang Duc. Their mark was... losing to Cambodia in the U18 Southeast Asian tournament. It is not until now that this generation of players has been called "a generation without a future". Mr. Troussier himself also recalled the past story in the press conference after the semi-final match.

U22 Vietnam 2-3 U22 Indonesia.

U22 Vietnam at SEA Games 32 is far behind the "golden generation" in terms of potential, and does not have any outstanding players. On the other hand, Coach Troussier's SEA Games 32 squad also does not have any over-aged stars to "carry the team" like Hung Dung, Hoang Duc and Tien Linh did to create a difference compared to the rest of the tournament a year ago.

The U22 Vietnam squad for the 32nd SEA Games started from zero, or even lower, after consecutive failures. They were led by a coach with a "long-term" coaching style but had only 2 months to prepare. Putting the expectation of winning a gold medal on such a force requires more optimism than in previous years.

U22 Vietnam lost the match, signaling a generation of 'no stars, few titles' - 2 — U22 Vietnam's defeat is not surprising.

U22 Vietnam is completely inferior to the strongest state of the team, and compared directly with the opponent, there is no advantage. In the semi-final match at the Olympic Stadium on the afternoon of May 13, the team with the appearance of the generation of champions Quang Hai and Hoang Duc must be... U22 Indonesia.

More than half of the Indonesian team are national players. Vietnamese fans are probably more familiar with the names Witan Sulaeman and Pratama Arhan than Nguyen Thai Son and Huynh Cong Den. The young stars of the U22 Indonesia team have participated in the SEA Games since 2019.

The way U22 Vietnam lost in the semi-final reflected all of that. Coach Troussier’s players played with clear ideas, but importantly, they were not effective. Then, at the crucial moment, they did not have enough practical experience to be able to control the situation.

Obviously, everything that happened to U22 Vietnam was not beyond the predictions of most experts. The expectations for Mr. Troussier and his students were not high. They had too many objective disadvantages as well as subjective shortcomings. Winning the gold medal was a great success, but failure was not surprising.

After a period of success in which all the best of football was concentrated in 2-3 generations of players, decline was inevitable. It is also worth mentioning that even the "golden generation" of Vietnamese football in recent years could not defend the number one position in the AFF Cup.

The failure of U22 Vietnam in the semi-finals of the 32nd SEA Games - after two consecutive gold medals - signals a period of rare new stars and few titles for Vietnamese football.

Minh Anh

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