If U.23 Vietnam cannot beat Cambodia, how can they think about winning the Southeast Asian championship!

The U.23 Vietnam team may not have played well against the U.23 Laos team. However, that match was only the first match of the team under coach Kim Sang-sik at the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament. In theory, the U.23 Vietnam team can still play better.

The forward line continues to be a concern.

Before the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asian tournament kicked off, coach Kim Sang-sik was forced to drop Vietnamese-American striker Alex Bui because he did not meet the professional requirements. A few months earlier, the U.23 Vietnam forward line had suffered a major loss after Bui Vi Hao was injured. Then, right when the U.23 Vietnam team arrived in Indonesia to participate in the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament, another loss appeared: right winger Nguyen Thanh Nhan was injured and forced to leave the tournament.

The U.23 Vietnam strikers (in white shirts) are not really effective.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Therefore, it is not surprising that the forward line is the area that causes the most concern for the U.23 Vietnam team at the moment. Coach Kim Sang-sik is forced to make adjustments to adapt to the reality. The Korean coach alternated between strikers Nguyen Quoc Viet and Nguyen Dinh Bac to play in the center forward position in the match against U.23 Laos on the evening of July 19. However, they both have certain weaknesses.

Nguyen Quoc Viet is at a disadvantage in terms of physique (only 1.73 m tall), almost unable to sweep past the opponent's defense, nor able to dominate in aerial battles, so he cannot perform well in the center forward position. Meanwhile, Nguyen Dinh Bac plays better, keeps the ball better, and maneuvers better in the circle of opponent's defenders than Nguyen Quoc Viet, but Dinh Bac has not been able to get rid of the habit of moving completely to the left wing, because Dinh Bac's forte is left wing forward.

The strikers did not score any goals against U.23 Laos (all 3 goals of U.23 Vietnam were scored by midfielders and defenders), which may make coach Kim Sang-sik worried. That is also the shortcoming of the U.23 Vietnam team in the opening match. Once the strikers do not play well, it will lead to the fact that our attacks are not really strong in the opening match, the front line lacks coordination.

U.23 Vietnam beat U.23 Laos, coach Kim Sang-sik cleverly avoided difficult questions

U.23 Vietnam will gradually improve

The weaknesses in the forward line were certainly seen by coach Kim Sang-sik. The Korean coach himself also made adjustments in the final stages of the match against U.23 Laos.

U.23 Vietnam will play well in the coming time.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

Specifically, coach Kim Sang-sik at one point pushed midfielder Nguyen Van Truong up quite high, taking advantage of this player's technique and ball control ability, causing trouble for the U.23 Laos defense. Van Truong himself also had some very powerful finishing situations, putting the goal of the young team of the land of a million elephants in an alarming state.

In addition, Mr. Kim Sang-sik also moved Khuat Van Khang to play more on the left wing, adding Viktor Le to the field to support this wing, forcing Dinh Bac to move to the center, thereby training this player to be more familiar with operating in the opponent's penalty area.

These adjustments helped U.23 Vietnam get closer to the goal of U.23 Laos, causing more difficulties for the opponent in the final minutes of the match. In addition, the remaining striker on the list of U.23 Vietnam, Nguyen Ngoc My, also appeared from the 76th minute (replacing Dinh Bac). This could be a personnel preparation for the next matches.

The road is still long, U.23 Vietnam still has the opportunity to adjust, in the context that our two opponents in the group stage, U.23 Laos and U.23 Cambodia, are quite weak. The important thing is that before the knockout round (semi-finals, finals) takes place, coach Kim Sang-sik's team completes these adjustments, finding the best formula to compete for the title.

Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-ma-khong-thang-noi-campuchia-nghi-gi-den-vo-dich-dong-nam-a-185250720165858214.htm