U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Malaysia with the “unpredictable calculations” of coach Gong Oh-kyun

U23 Vietnam and the almighty spearhead Nham Manh Dung

More than 4 years ago, when Coach Park Hang-seo came to Vietnam, there was a very long time, no one could accurately predict the 11 players in the starting lineup.

With small changes, Coach Park Hang-seo always surprises everyone with his subtle but subtle “dots”. At the end of the 31st SEA Games, Coach Park Hang-seo bid farewell to U23 Vietnam and left it as an “employment” for his compatriot Gong Oh-kyun to inherit.

Before entering the 2022 AFC U23 Championship, a lot of doubts and worries were directed at Coach Gong Oh-kyun. I don’t know how he can “drive” when U23 Vietnam no longer has 3 players over 23 years old in the squad: Tien Linh, Hoan Duc, Hung Dung.

But then slowly and surely, U23 Vietnam showed a new face full of vitality, desire and enthusiasm under Mr. Gong. Without Tien Linh, Nham Manh Dung is more and more perfect in the position of a spearhead striker.

Before U23 Malaysia tonight, Nham Manh Dung moved very wide to both sides, boldly launching shots to threaten the opponent’s goal.

Nham Manh Dung’s technical handling phase with the bottom of his shoe in a position with his back to the opponent’s goal, eliminating 2 “pincers” Malaysian U23 clinging to before finishing from a distance of about 30m to put the ball over the goalkeeper’s head. Phuong has been televised as a masterpiece… Missing!

The handling in the 9th minute was truly world class, but unfortunately the ball narrowly missed the goal!

But then Nham Manh Dung didn’t have to wait long for a goal to put U23 Vietnam in the lead in the 28th minute. Hai Long “deals” perfectly from the middle of the field to the left wing for Thanh Nhan (a new HAGL player coached by coach Gong Gong. Oh-kyun trusted the main kick to replace Van Do in the position of a left-sided striker in the 4-3-3-) diagram.

In this situation, the Malaysian U23 defense probably mistakenly thought Thanh Nhan couldn’t keep up with the ball and in the end they had to receive Thanh Nhan’s perfect cross from the left wing for Nham Manh Dung to head the ball. .

Smart movement, good ball handling, good footwork, good header! Perhaps right now, Nham Manh Dung with his omnipotence has been a “threat” to “elder” Tien Linh in the position of a striker in the Vietnam national team shirt.

Transform like Coach Gong Oh-kyun

Looking at the way Vietnam U23 started and played, it feels like right now, Coach Gong Oh-kyun is still actively experimenting to find his best lineup.

Compared to the 1-1 Korean U23 draw, before U23 Malaysia, coach Gong Oh-kyun only kept the same defense (keeper Van Chuan, defenders Tien Long – Viet Anh – Thanh Binh – Tuan Tai) with the same nose. sharp Nham Manh Dung.

5 players playing in midfield and winger were changed: Thanh Nhan (replacing Van Do), Quang Nho (playing the right striker to replace Hoang Anh – something few expected), Cong To (replacing Duy Cuong in the position of anchor midfielder), Hai Long – Van Cong (replacing the young midfielders born in 2003 as Van Khang – Van Truong).

With such a change in personnel, coach Gong Oh-kyun made his colleague Brad Maloney on the other side of the front line not know which way to go.

In fact, U23 Malaysia has a lot of “bitterness” to expect to “repay” losing to U23 Vietnam in the semi-finals of the 31st SEA Games, but they lack the level, sanity and bravery to solve the problem. Quentin Cheng’s bad play (number 2 – U23 Malaysia) against Thanh Nhan in the first half is a prime example of that.

Play calmly, if there was goal-line technology (the referee’s clock vibrates when determining the ball has crossed the goal line, recognizing the goal), Nham Manh Dung’s delicate handling phase could have turned into a goal. increase the 32 minute gap; rather than waiting for injury time in the first half when Bui Hoang Viet Anh successfully took the penalty to make it 2-0 (Malaysia U23 was both penalized and lost when Hairiey (No. 12) was red carded. after the referee judged that he had used his hand to stop the burn in a situation where a goal was likely to be scored).

In a game where more players are leading 2-0, U23 Vietnam can comfortably control the game. Coach Gong Oh-kyun almost had 45 minutes of the second half to “practice”. Midfielder Nguyen Hai Long, who did not receive the trust of Coach Park Hang-seo at the 31st SEA Games, had many opportunities to show himself in the role of “conductor” of U23 Vietnam against U23 Malaysia – which he did well on Journey with Vietnam U23 to win tickets to the 2022 AFC U23 Championship.

Many opportunities were created by U23 Vietnam in the second half. Substitute players such as Van Truong, Van Tung, Duy Cuong … all had the opportunity to “bombard” the Malaysian U23 goal, but there were no more goals. recorded.

The most unfortunate was the close-range finish that hit the damaged vertical post of Van Tung in the 63rd minute after Thanh Nhan’s “cleaning up” pass on the left wing.

Winning the final match 2-0, U23 Vietnam (5 points/3 matches) won the right to the quarterfinals as the second team of Group C, behind U23 Korea (7 points/3 matches, won U23 Thailand 1). -0 in a match played at the same time).

And the most important thing is that fans still see a lot of potential of the current U23 Vietnamese generation, waiting to be revealed under the hands of coach Gong Oh-kyun in the upcoming knockout round.