Asian newspapers frankly comment on U23 Vietnam and Indonesia before the final

(Dan Tri) - On ESPN, author Gabriel Tan made a frank comment about U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia before the final match of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament.

At 8pm today (July 29), U23 Vietnam will face U23 Indonesia in the final match of the U23 Southeast Asian Championship. This match promises to be extremely tense and fierce, as the two teams are predicted to be evenly matched.

Vietnamese football has a talented young generation (Photo: VFF).

Ahead of this match, ESPN had a comprehensive look at the strength of the two teams. Talking about U23 Vietnam, author Gabriel Tan wrote: “U23 Vietnam has the opportunity to assert its dominance in youth football in the region as it aims to win the U23 Southeast Asian Championship for the third consecutive time.

That will be even more meaningful when combined with the AFF Cup championship that the Vietnamese team won earlier this year.

In terms of training and developing local talent, Vietnam can be considered a typical model in Southeast Asia over the past 8 years.

Everything started with the golden generation when U23 Vietnam won the runner-up position at the 2018 U23 Asia, then continued to impress with the 4th place at the 2018 ASIAD, a tournament where they only stopped at the semi-finals against Korea, a squad with names like Kim Min Jae, Hwang Hee Chan and Son Heung Min.

This group of players became the core of the teams that later won the 2018 AFF Cup, won two consecutive SEA Games gold medals in 2019 and 2021, and reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup.

The Vietnamese team is also the only representative of Southeast Asia to participate in the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, when only 12 teams will be able to continue.

Indonesia is keen to prove that they have a promising young generation (Photo: Bola).

Of course, Indonesia will use their current performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to prove that they are the number one team in Southeast Asia. However, the fact that Indonesia was eliminated from the group stage of the 2024 AFF Cup with a team consisting of local players shows that they still have many limitations.

For Vietnamese football, the value of pure tournaments (without naturalized players) in the region is still very high. In January, the Vietnamese team won the AFF Cup. Six months later, the U23 Vietnam team also had the opportunity to do the same.

If U23 Vietnam wins against U23 Indonesia, Vietnamese football will further strengthen the belief that they are on the right track in developing youth football."

Meanwhile, commenting on U23 Indonesia, author Gabriel Tan wrote: “For Indonesia, a victory will prove that they have a talented next generation for a team that is rising strongly in Asia.

Indonesia are on the rise thanks to their naturalised players. They are the only team from the region to have made it to the fourth round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. A first World Cup appearance since 1938 (when they played as the Dutch East Indies) is no longer out of the question, although they face tough challenges against Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

However, the U23 Indonesia squad participating in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament only has one player born in Europe, Jens Raven, who scored 7 goals in the tournament. The rest of the players in the U23 Indonesia squad were all grown up in the country, including players with mixed blood like Brandon Scheunemann or Victor Dethan.

If Indonesia wins the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, it will be a clear demonstration that although Indonesia will continue to take advantage of the talent available abroad, the domestic training system is still working well.

Over the years, Indonesian football has produced promising young names such as Marselino Ferdinan, Pratama Arhan and Rizky Ridho.

Indonesia wants to prove that they are not only aiming for the 2026 World Cup, but also many future World Cups thanks to their promising young force."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-chau-a-nhan-xet-thang-than-ve-u23-viet-nam-va-indonesia-truoc-chung-ket-20250728232057606.htm