Strange coincidence, U23 Vietnam watch out for the wreckage 3 years ago

With a somewhat regretful draw against the defending champion Korea, young Vietnamese players still have the opportunity to compete for the top of the table before the final match. Confronting an officially eliminated Malaysia U23 is a challenge within reach, while Thailand and Korea almost have to eliminate each other (if they shake hands, they must draw with a strong score). But is everything that simple?

At U23 Asia 2020 held in Thailand, Coach Park Hang-seo’s U23 Vietnam team fell into Group D with rivals UAE, Jordan and North Korea. The situation of Vietnam before the final match is similar to this year’s tournament.

In the first 2 rounds, Vietnam held a draw (no goal) with competitors UAE and Jordan, while North Korea was officially eliminated when losing to both teams mentioned above. Entering the final match, Park Hang Seo’s teachers and students met the bottom team of the Korean group, while the UAE and Jordan collided.

Coach Park Hang-seo and his students in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship campaign (Photo: VFF)

Everything went smoothly with the golden star warriors from the beginning. After 16 minutes, Vietnam led North Korea 1-0 with a goal from Nguyen Tien Linh. However, the rest of the match was a disaster. Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung made the mistake of owning an own goal from the opponent’s free kick, causing the match to return to the starting line.

In the final minutes of the match, the drama climaxed in the other match when Jordan equalized against the UAE. At Rajamangala Stadium, Dinh Trong received a red card, and North Korea scored a 2-1 victory. In the end, Jordan and the UAE went hand in hand, North Korea got the first victory and Vietnam left the tournament with the bottom position.

Back to the 2022 AFC U23 Championship taking place in Uzbekistan, the detailed situation of U23 Vietnam is somewhat different, but the task of Gong Oh Kyun’s army is still the same – defeat the opponent and wait for the two teams to compete. direct competition between winners and losers.

Coach Gong Oh-kyun understands that things are not going well with U23 Vietnam, that’s why despite regretting the draw with Korea U23, he still expressed: “After 2 draws, I didn’t say anything. have plans for the next match in the group stage.” Because even though they encountered a disqualified Malaysia, if they are subjective, Vietnamese players can completely repeat the same fall two years ago.

U23 Vietnam made a miracle of holding U23 Korea in the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. (Photo: AFC)

U23 Malaysia is being criticized a lot from domestic fans, coach Brad Maloney is called for sacking. But when facing U23 Vietnam in the last match, the young Tigers also have nothing to lose. With coach Brad Maloney, in the event that his future is indeed being considered, he certainly wants to leave a beautiful farewell. And U23 Malaysia will still be an unpleasant opponent like when pulling U23 Vietnam to extra time in the 31st SEA Games semi-finals.

With the criteria to consider the head-to-head, calculate the number of goals to rank, Thailand and Korea need a draw result with a strong score (from 3-3 or more) to shake hands to continue, regardless of whether Vietnam wins against Malaysia. at any rate. The students of Coach Gong Oh Kyun will face an easier situation when Thai and Korean win or lose. But that, however important, is only a sufficient condition. Above all, has Vietnam won against the tigers of the same Malaysian line?