The true stature of U23 Vietnam in the Asian tournament

In the context of U23 Asia 2024 is the basis for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the seats for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, many countries such as Japan or Iran did not bring the strongest force to Uzbekistan this summer.

This is similar to the 2018 tournament when U23 Vietnam made a record of reaching the finals. It is a tournament where many major football platforms also bring their U20 or U21 squads to attend to rub and prepare their forces for the competition in 2020.

New Olympic playground is a priority

U23 Uzbekistan is the team that best understands the different nature of the Asian U23 finals. In 2018, Uzbekistan did not send the brightest names of the U23 group to the Asian tournament, but they still won the championship. By the 2020 tournament, Uzbekistan U23 suffered a bitter loss in the third place match that decided the place Tokyo Olympics in the summer.

Therefore, in order to properly assess the stature and strength of the U23 Vietnam team in the Asian tournament, we also need to consider the preparation and correlation of forces from other opponents.

The pillars of the Qatar U23 team over the past time like Mohammed Waad or Homam Ahmed did not attend the tournament in Uzbekistan this time. The Qatar national team coach, Felix Sanchez, thinks that Waad or Ahmed should be trained in the big team and not need to attend the youth tournament.

Mr. Nicolas Cordova, head coach of U23 Qatar, decided to call many names that have been playing bad in the past time and is in need of a chance to find himself again. Abdulrasheed Umaru, Yusuf Abdurisag or Hashim Ali are not among the brightest young talents of Qatari football. This explains the 0-6 loss of U23 Qatar against the host country in the series of matches on the evening of June 4.

The country with the best youth training foundation in Asia over the past half-decade is likely to be eliminated early from the group stage of this year’s U23 tournament. They along with Iran U23 ranked the last two positions in Group A after two matches.

Iranian football also did not send the strongest force to the Asian U23 tournament. Therefore, the fact that they are in danger of being eliminated early is expected. The Iranian squad participating in this tournament is mainly players of the U21 age group. They received a shock 1-2 defeat against U23 Turkmenistan on the evening of June 4. The head coach of Iran U23s, Mehdi Mahdavikia, complained that he did not have the best preparation for the tournament.

“Unfortunately during the preparation for the tournament, Iran U23 only had two friendly matches against Iraq and two matches against domestic clubs.”Mr. Mahdavikia said before the tournament. “We will try to get good results at the tournament”.

In fact, Iran’s football leaders do not attach great importance to achievements in the 2022 Asian U23 tournament. Their goal is to help the U21 players have the opportunity to “test the fire” and prepare for the 2023 Asian Games or the U23 Asian Cup. Asia 2024. At that stage, Iran U23 will definitely summon bright players like Allahyar Sayyadmanesh (playing for Hull City on loan from Fenerbahce).

The strategy of Iranian football is similar to Uzbekistan and Japan, the two football backgrounds also bring U21 players to the Asian U23 tournament. The bright stars in the U23 age grid of Japanese football like Takefusa Kubo or Hiroki Ito did not attend this tournament.

Many pillars of Japan U23 in this tournament like Kyuru Matsuki or Taika Nakashima are even 19 years old. However, with an abundant source of young players from within the country, Japan still maintains its strength in the Asian U23 tournament after a 2-1 victory over UAE in the first series.

Ruler named U23 Korea

Along with Australia or Saudi Arabia, South Korea U23 is among the few major football platforms that bring the strongest possible force to the tournament in Uzbekistan. The match against the kimchi team will definitely be a powerful test for the SEA Games 31 men’s football champions.

In addition to the famous name Lee Kang-in (Valencia), other players of U23 Korea such as Oh Se-hun (Shimizu S-Pulse), Cho Young-wook (Seoul FC) or Kim Tae-hwan (Suwon Samsung) Bluewings) have confirmed their talent in the first team. Meanwhile, most members of U23 Vietnam are currently unable to occupy the main kick position in many V.League teams.

U23 Korea has a reason to summon the strongest squad for the Asian youth tournament. They need to build a framework for the 2023 Asian Games, an important tournament for many young talents in this country. The Asian Games gold medal can help many young Korean players be exempted from military service.

Therefore, Korea always attaches great importance to the Asian U23 tournaments. They are the only team to reach the semi-finals in all 4 times the tournament is held (1 champion, 1 runner-up). Confronting the kimchi team will be a great opportunity to Vietnamese football know where I am at the Asian U23 Championship.

4 years ago, Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates had an excellent match against Korea U23 and only lost to the opponent 1-2. That is the premise for coach Park Hang Seo’s team to create a miracle. But in this reunion between the two teams, things will definitely be very different.