U23 Vietnam finalizes list for U23 Asia: Choosing the right person

According to the original plan, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan finalized the list of U23 Vietnam players one day before the opening match against U23 Kuwait, but the strategist from Khanh Hoa unexpectedly said that he would announce it earlier, specifically today (April 15).

Currently, the U23 Vietnam roster has 27 players, so 4 names have to say goodbye to the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, including 1 goalkeeper and 3 players.

With his style, Mr. Tuan does not base his selection criteria on star quality. The youth teams under the guidance of the coach born in 1968 have one thing in common: collective play, discipline and suitability for each position.

A typical example is the case of Thai Son - a player who has been highly regarded by coach Troussier in the Vietnam national team for over a year, but in the U23 Vietnam team, he may still have to sit on the bench.

Not only Thai Son, Khuat Van Khang, Van Tung, Dinh Bac... may also have to be "supporting actors" in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship.

Among them, Van Tung received a wild card to join U23 Vietnam after Thanh Nhan was injured, and Dinh Bac, although a Vietnamese national team player, still had to compete with players who were considered suitable for coach Hoang Anh Tuan's playing style such as Vo Nguyen Hoang, Vi Hao, Quoc Viet or even Minh Quang.

In the group stage, U23 Vietnam will face 3 opponents with different playing styles. The goal of U23 Vietnam is to win against opponents who are considered to be of equal strength in the opening match (U23 Kuwait) and the second match against U23 Malaysia. If they achieve favorable results, coach Hoang Anh Tuan will have an easier time calculating for the final match of the group stage against U23 Uzbekistan.

With the goal of passing the group stage and focusing on the first two matches, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan will likely choose personnel suitable for the playing style he uses to deal with the two opponents U23 Kuwait and U23 Malaysia.

In addition to finalizing the list with the most suitable players, Mr. Tuan also has to help his students overcome limitations in finishing and approaching the opponent's goal. In the last 3 matches (2 friendly matches with U23 Tajikistan, 1 match with U23 Jordan), the U23 Vietnam players only scored 1 goal.

In recent training sessions, the captain of U23 Vietnam continuously asked Dinh Bac and his teammates to be confident in holding the ball and finishing when there is an opportunity. To go further in the tournament, U23 Vietnam must solve the problem of scoring goals.