U22 Vietnam vs U22 Korea, China: How strong are the opponents?

Wang Yudong, the expected factor of U22 China.

U22 Vietnam will face U22 China, U22 Uzbekistan and U22 Korea in the 2025 Panda Cup friendly tournament. This is a good opportunity for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to test the team's true strength and prepare for the 33rd SEA Games.

Under the guidance of coach Lee Min-sung, U22 Korea brought to China almost the strongest squad to compete before heading to the AFC U23 Championship. Hwang Do-yun (Seoul FC) and Park Seung-ho (Incheon United), two key players of coach Lee Min-sung, were present.

The Korean U22 team has called up three players currently playing in Europe, namely Kim Yong-hak (Portimonense), Kim Ji-soo (Kaisers Lautern) and Kim Myung-jun (Genk). The next highlight of the Korean U22 team that will be playing at the Panda Cup is the squad that has just participated in the U20 World Cup, notably Kim Myung-jun, Shin Min-ha (Gangwon FC) and Bae Hyeon-seo (FC Seoul).

Chinese media emphasized that the Panda Cup 2025 promises to have the highest professional quality since the inception of this friendly tournament. To compete with U22 Korea, U22 Uzbekistan and U22 Vietnam, China summoned the best players of their age.

Wang Yudong (18 years old), a midfielder who has played for the Chinese national team for 6 matches, is the great hope of the Chinese U22 team. In addition, the home team's notable players also include Liu Chengyu (19 years old), Kuai Jiwen (19 years old), Umidjan Yusup (21 years old), Hu Hetao (22 years old), Liu Haofan (22 years old), all of whom have been called up to the Chinese national team.

Chinese football is in the "demolition and rebuilding" phase, focusing resources on improving young players. The Chinese U22 squad competing in the 2025 Panda Cup is the future of the Chinese team in the next few years. Sohu website commented that the Chinese U22 team is receiving a lot of expectations from home fans and the matches against Korea, Vietnam and Uzbekistan will determine their true strength.

The remaining opponent of U22 Vietnam, U22 Uzbekistan, is still an unknown in the tournament in China. According to Zhibo, U22 Uzbekistan brought to China a squad consisting of many players under the age of 20.

Coach Dinh Hong Vinh and his team will meet U22 China in the first match of Panda Cup 2025. However, because the V.League 2025/26 schedule was postponed by one day, U22 Vietnam did not have the best squad to face the home team. U22 Vietnam had to divide into 3 groups of players to move to Chengdu.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/u22-viet-nam-dung-do-u22-han-quoc-trung-quoc-doi-thu-manh-co-nao-post1794905.tpo