U23 Vietnam lost 0-3, coach Gong Oh-kyun said ‘nobody played badly’

On the evening of May 28, U23 Vietnam had a practice match with UAE U23 within the framework of a training session in Dubai. This is a match to evaluate and review the squad and gameplay of U23 Vietnam before moving to Uzbekistan to attend the finals. U23 Asia 2022, that’s why coach Gong Oh-kyun made the most of the opportunity to let all the players play.

With the nature of a practice match, coach Gong Oh-kyun arranged two different lineups for the two rounds. He also did not put too much emphasis on the score and encouraged the players to try to show their best ability.

After 90 minutes of testing a new style of play against a quality opponent, despite losing to the team 0-3 in a fairly even game, coach Gong Oh-kyun assessed that the players did a great job and completed the game. The task is tested in the 4-3-3 diagram.

Speaking after the match, coach Gong Oh Kyun still gave words of encouragement to his students: “Today, Vietnam U23 players performed well. Before the 31st SEA Games took place, we gathered and worked together for a while. After the SEA Games, the team reunited and practiced together. Although it was only a few days of training together, what the players showed was beyond my expectations. I have high hopes for the performance of the players in the upcoming matches“.

Mr. Gong Oh-kyun continued: “I rate the players who played very well. No one is bad at this game. They did a good job, the role for which I tested them. I believe the ability of the players will be demonstrated more clearly in the upcoming 2022 AFC U23 Championship“.

Referring to the use of a 4-3-3 formation, coach Gong Oh-kyun said: “I do not want to mention much about the 4-3-3 strategy that I used for U23 Vietnam. I recognize that my players have the ability to play such a comprehensive football. I believe that is the right strategy for U23 Vietnam. I hope the players will perform even better in the future“.

U23 Vietnam is the first team where Mr. Gong Oh-kyun is the head coach. The Korean leader is calm: “Really no problem for me at all. I have been an assistant to many teams, to many places and to many coaches. I have the experience to work with players and talk to them. I believe in my ability enough to talk directly with them and help players develop more.

I also received a lot of help from VFF and many people around. Coach Park Hang Seo and assistant Lee Young Jin also shared with me their experience and useful information about U23 Vietnam before parting. I didn’t worry much about being a head coach for the first time. I prepared a lot for this role“.

The Korean strategist closed: “Although my players are very young, but I believe their ability is enough to score goals in the upcoming matches at the AFC U23 Championship 2022. I trust them. In the next period of time, they will improve much more. I don’t want to miss a single Vietnamese striker. I will give them a chance to play more“.

After this match, U23 Vietnam will move to Uzbekistan to compete in the AFC U23 Championship 2022 at noon on May 29 local time. The opening match of U23 Vietnam is against U23 Thailand on June 2. Next, U23 Vietnam will meet U23 Korea on June 5 before playing the final match of the group stage against U23 Malaysia on June 8.