Thai press praises U23 Vietnam's position as number 1 in the region

After the final match of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship on the evening of August 26, while the Thai media expressed admiration for the successful defense of the championship by the U23 Vietnam team, the Indonesian press expressed regret when the country's players lost in the penalty shootout.

U23 Vietnam entered the final match of this tournament with a perfect record from the group stage. After 120 minutes of 0-0 draw, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students won 6-5 on penalties.

All 6 U23 Vietnam players performed their assigned tasks excellently, while goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan successfully blocked the decisive penalty in the 6th round of Ernando Ari's kick.

In an article on its homepage, Siam Sport (Thailand) commented that U23 Vietnam has proven its position as number 1 in Southeast Asia by successfully defending its championship title after defeating U23 Indonesia (the current SEA Games champion) with a score of 6-5 on penalties.

It should be noted that before the tournament, U23 Thailand was rated the highest thanks to the home advantage. However, this team surprisingly lost to U23 Indonesia in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, CNN Indonesia expressed regret when the country's U23 team became the runner-up of this year's tournament.

According to CNN, despite being forced to play on the field, Coach Shin Tae-yong's players played a very tight defense and dragged U23 Vietnam into a "shootout."

CNN Indonesia also expressed sympathy for Coach Shin Tae Yong because even though his team was not the strongest, he was still able to bring U23 Indonesia to the final, and those efforts deserve praise.

Meanwhile, Republika newspaper quoted words of encouragement from President of the Indonesian Football Federation Erick Thohir, who was in Thailand to cheer for the U23 Indonesia team.

According to Mr. Thohir, the U23 Indonesian players overcame difficulties and played bravely in this tournament. He said that although the results were not as expected, he believed that this tournament would bring motivation and spirit to the Indonesian players so that they could progress further.