In the opening match of the 2025 Panda Cup, U22 Vietnam defeated U22 China 1-0 thanks to a goal by Minh Phuc. With this victory, coach Dinh Hong Vinh and his team temporarily ranked 2nd in the rankings due to a lower goal difference than U22 Korea. In the next two matches, U22 Vietnam will meet U22 Uzbekistan at 2:30 p.m. on November 15.

This is the second victory of U22 Vietnam against U22 China after 6 years. In 2019, also in a friendly match on the away field, U22 Vietnam under the leadership of coach Park Hang Seo defeated host U22 China 2-0, with a double from striker Nguyen Tien Linh.

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Tien Linh scored 2 goals against U22 China before winning the 2019 SEA Games gold medal.

The victory of U22 Vietnam forced coach Guus Hiddink of U22 China to resign. It was truly an unpleasant memory for Chinese football in the confrontations with Vietnamese football.

In particular, in that year, after defeating U22 China, U22 Vietnam had a 7-match unbeaten streak, winning the SEA Games gold medal in the Philippines. After 6 years, U22 Vietnam is very confident and is having good luck in the journey to prepare for the Regional Sports Festival taking place at the end of the year. Coach Kim Sang Sik and his students are having a very encouraging record when they won the Southeast Asian championship for the 3rd time and won a ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

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U22 Vietnam confidently heads towards SEA Games 33.

Returning to the ongoing Panda Cup 2025, Coach Dinh Hong Vinh emphasized that the victory over U22 China is an important step forward for U22 Vietnam before the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship. The victory also shows that U22 Vietnam is on the right track, gradually maturing and becoming more cohesive.

Meanwhile, Minh Phuc - the author of the only goal of the match, commented: "U22 Vietnam performed well. Meeting host U22 China in the opening match was very difficult. Before the match, the coaching staff created a spirit of determination in the players for the country's flag, and we did it."

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u22-viet-nam-tung-vo-dich-sea-games-sau-khi-thang-trung-quoc-2462390.html