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U23 Vietnam enters the semi-finals: Harsh truth, heavy burden of worries

(Dan Tri) - U23 Vietnam is on the right track to defend the Southeast Asian U23 championship. However, the playing style of coach Kim Sang Sik's team still makes fans worried.

Báo Dân tríBáo Dân trí23/07/2025

The ripples after the victory of U23 Vietnam

After the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament ended on July 22, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) released some thoughtful statistics. In particular, U23 Vietnam was the team with the most ball control in the tournament (72.5%). That shows the dominance of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team compared to the two opponents U23 Laos and U23 Cambodia.

However, the problem is that U23 Vietnam only did well in controlling the ball. Otherwise, we have exposed many problems. Coach Kim Sang Sik's students launched 43 shots towards the opponent's goal (the most among the teams playing 2 matches) but only 14 shots were on target (32.5%). Meanwhile, the conversion rate of U23 Vietnam's shots into goals was only 11.6%. That is too low.

U23 Việt Nam lọt vào bán kết: Sự thật phũ phàng, nặng gánh âu lo - 1

The playing style of U23 Vietnam was quite bland in both matches against U23 Laos and U23 Cambodia (Photo: VFF).

In addition, U23 Vietnam only had 24 tackles (14 successful), the lowest in the tournament. This number is much more "modest" than U23 Indonesia (54 times), U23 Thailand (46 times), U23 Philippines (56 times), U23 Malaysia (53 times), U23 Myanmar (53 times) or U23 Timor Leste (50 times). In addition, coach Kim Sang Sik's team also only committed 17 fouls against opponents, the second lowest in the tournament.

It should be added that this is not just a purely defensive criterion, but it shows that the pressing efficiency of U23 Vietnam is not good. We are not ready to regain control after losing the ball.

U23 Vietnam is also the team with the most crosses in the tournament with 26 times (accuracy rate 24.5%). In fact, all 5 goals of the team came from both wings, in which 3/5 goals were scored with the head. The above index partly shows the "weapon" of U23 Vietnam but it can also be a fatal weakness if the opponent tries to stop it.

The worrying thing is that U23 Vietnam did not launch a good attack. The whole system played quite passively even though coach Kim Sang Sik tried every way to handle it. The problem is no longer in any particular position, but the entire U23 Vietnam squad lacks flexibility and speed. We are stuck right before underrated opponents like U23 Laos or U23 Cambodia.

Let's listen to the Indonesian newspaper Superball comment on U23 Vietnam: "U23 Vietnam controlled the ball and dominated, but they could not put much pressure on the defense of U23 Cambodia. U23 Vietnam players made too many wrong passes, making them unable to attack coherently. Meanwhile, U23 Cambodia players proactively committed many fouls to prevent U23 Vietnam's attacks."

U23 Việt Nam lọt vào bán kết: Sự thật phũ phàng, nặng gánh âu lo - 2

U23 Vietnam played uncreatively and moved the ball slowly (Photo: VFF).

This issue was also mentioned by expert Phan Anh Tu on television: “We keep a lot of the ball but sometimes we deploy it in a vicious, slow way. U23 Vietnam lacks good passes. We lack tactical vision. There are many good running situations but almost no one passes the ball to the right position. There are very few cross-field passes when we advance. There are too many short passes around. The players are not good at finishing with their feet. Otherwise, we would have had more goals.”

It is worth mentioning that the current generation of U23 Vietnam has played together a lot since the youth team. Some of them have been used in the national team. However, they play as if they have only played together for a few days. There is no cohesion, no connection. It is not difficult for us to defeat U23 Laos or U23 Cambodia, but when entering the knockout round, U23 Vietnam may have difficulty with this uncreative style of play.

Furthermore, coach Kim Sang Sik still has a lot of work to do in the context of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers as well as the SEA Games approaching.

Big challenge from the "phenomenon" U23 Philippines

It is a fact that this is the first time that U23 Philippines has passed the group stage of the U23 Southeast Asia and SEA Games. In particular, the 2-0 victory over U23 Malaysia in the first match was a turning point, helping this team make history.

U23 Việt Nam lọt vào bán kết: Sự thật phũ phàng, nặng gánh âu lo - 3

U23 Philippines could be a formidable opponent of U23 Vietnam (Photo: FPA).

There is not much to say about the U23 Philippines. They do not have a flashy style of play but prioritize practicality. Coach Garrath McPherson asked his players to do well in defense before thinking about scoring. This is a rather old-fashioned style of play compared to the times but is suitable for a team without great potential like the U23 Philippines.

The advantage of U23 Philippines lies in the tall stature of the players. They have many tall players such as Andres Aldeguer (1.89m), Gavin Muens (1.87m), Jaime Rosquillo (1.84m). Therefore, U23 Philippines often takes advantage of the players' physique to overwhelm the opponent in defense and take advantage of aerial situations.

The two goals scored by U23 Philippines against U23 Malaysia were nothing special. They came from the same formula of using speed to break through the opponent's defense, then using the delicate finishing ability of target striker Otu Bisong to score.

This requires U23 Vietnam to be really creative, if we don't want to get into a dead end when facing U23 Philippines. It will be difficult for us to take advantage of our aerial strengths (like against U23 Laos or U23 Cambodia) because U23 Philippines has many tall players. Without enough speed in the ball, U23 Vietnam is unlikely to be able to overcome the solid defense of U23 Philippines.

Meanwhile, the U23 Vietnam defense also needs to be vigilant because the U23 Philippines plays simply but very neatly. They only need a few passes to reach striker Otu Bisong (scored a double against U23 Malaysia). Coach Kim Sang Sik's defense has not really created peace of mind in the group stage matches. Hieu Minh, Anh Quan, Phi Hoang made many bad passes even though they were not pressured by the opponent.

U23 Việt Nam lọt vào bán kết: Sự thật phũ phàng, nặng gánh âu lo - 4

Otu Bisong is a dangerous striker of U23 Philippines. He once scored a double against U23 Malaysia (Photo: FB).

Like the national team, the U23 Philippines has 7 players playing abroad, including goalkeeper Nicholas Guimaraes (Juntendo University, Japan), Inigo Castro (Odisea Club, Spain), defender Noah Leddel (Yale University, USA), midfielder Jax Pena (Western Reserve Sports Academy, USA), John Lecero (Kanchanaburi Power Club, Thailand), striker Otu Bisong (Old Dominion University, USA), Javier Mariona (AV Alta Club, USA).

Over the past few years, Vietnamese teams have faced many naturalized players who have grown up in football training centers in Europe and South America. The common point is that we have shown many physical limitations compared to these colleagues. Let's see how difficult it is for U23 Malaysia (mostly local players) to face U23 Philippines.

That said, U23 Philippines is a potentially dangerous opponent. However, U23 Vietnam needs such challenges to “wake up”. Didn’t this generation of players play very successfully in a friendly match in Yancheng (China) a few months ago when they held U22 Korea, U22 Uzbekistan and U22 China to a draw?

Schedule of the semi-finals of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament

4:00 p.m. July 25: U23 Vietnam vs U23 Philippines.

8:00 p.m. July 25: U23 Indonesia vs U23 Thailand

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/u23-viet-nam-lot-vao-ban-ket-su-that-phu-phang-nang-ganh-au-lo-20250723233756541.htm


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