U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Bahrain in penalty shootout

Due to the nature of the match serving the professional work of the two teams, the match took place without spectators or press coverage.

Starting lineup of U23 Vietnam

In this match, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan gave the opportunity to play mainly to the group of players who joined the training camp late and did not have much time to get used to the team's playing style, notably the presence of many players from the U20 group such as Duc Viet, Van Truong, Van Khang, Quoc Viet, ... Meanwhile, U23 Bahrain has a force of players who are in the training phase preparing for the 2023 U23 Asian qualifiers. They have also just gone through 2 friendly matches at the U23 team level with Kuwait (0-0 draw) and Thailand (2-0 win).

Despite playing with a team that had only trained together for a few days, U23 Vietnam still created an equal game with the other team. Even in the 65th minute, Quoc Viet concretized U23 Vietnam's encroachment on the field with a speedy run down to receive a pass from Ngoc Thang, eliminating the opponent's goalkeeper before putting the ball into the empty net to open the score for U23 Vietnam. However, in the remaining time of the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students did not maintain the game well, creating an opportunity for the other team to put pressure back and equalize 1-1 in the 88th minute, in a direct free kick outside the penalty area.

In order to help the young players of both teams gain more experience and accumulate more practical competition experience, the coaching staff of both teams decided to determine the winner or loser by a penalty shootout. As a result, U23 Bahrain won 5-3 after successfully executing all 5 kicks.

The white shirt players had a rewarding match.

Overall assessment of the match, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: “From the beginning, I did not care about the result. The coaching staff wanted to see how the whole team operated tactically. Especially the players who came on very late. And in this match, you played well”. In the second half, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan made 8 changes in personnel. Evaluating these experiments, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: “The second half was a bit shaky because the U20 players like Long Vu, Dan Duong, ... needed more time. However, overall, most of the players performed well as requested by the coaching staff”.

Tomorrow morning, August 16, U23 Vietnam will travel to Rayong - the venue for the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team will have 3 days to complete the final preparations before entering the opening match against U23 Laos.

VINH HAI; photo: VFF

Source