U23 Vietnam - U23 Uzbekistan: Determining the top position

"Tough" battle

Two consecutive victories over Kuwait and Malaysia helped Vietnam and Uzbekistan secure tickets to the quarter-finals one round early. And this match will determine the top spot. Currently, Uzbekistan is temporarily leading Group D with 6 points (+7 goal difference). Vietnam has the same 6 points but is in 2nd place, because of a lower goal difference (+4).

With the advantage in goal difference, Uzbekistan only needs a draw; while Vietnam must win against Uzbekistan to take the top spot in the group.

The top team in Group D will meet Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, while the second team will face Iraq. Because, Group C of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship ended with a big surprise when Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia in the final match, winning a ticket to the quarterfinals as the top team. Meanwhile, Thailand was eliminated after a 0-1 loss to Tajikistan.

Iraq's entry into the quarterfinals as the top team in Group C has upset the calculations of the teams in Group D. Therefore, the match between Uzbekistan and Vietnam has also received great attention from fans.

Saudi Arabia is the defending champion, so even though they lost to Iraq, the strength of this team is still considered higher. Meeting Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals will make the opponents' chances of advancing low. At the 2022 AFC U23 Championship, coach Gong Oh-kyun's U23 Vietnam suffered a defeat against this team.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan also knows well the strength of Saudi Arabia, because 2 years ago, the Central Asian representative lost to their opponent in the final match, thereby missing the opportunity to win the championship for the second time.

Saudi Arabia's second-place finish in the group stage has ruined Uzbekistan's initial plans. Coach Timur Kapadze's team is in a difficult position when facing Vietnam in the final match.

The 2024 AFC U23 Championship is a tournament to select teams representing Asia to participate in men's football at the 2024 Paris Olympics when 3.5 slots are determined.

Accordingly, the top 3 teams of the tournament, including the champion, runner-up and the winner of the third-place match, will directly qualify for France. The losing team in the third-place match will have to play a play-off match against African representative U23 Guinea.

The World Football Federation (FIFA) has decided to hold this play-off match on May 9 at the FIFA campus stadium in the suburbs of Paris. Thus, the fourth-placed team of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship will have less than a week to prepare for the play-off match for a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics when the third-place match at the 2024 AFC U23 Championship will take place on May 2.

In case U23 Vietnam achieves this position, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team will have to continue traveling from Qatar to Paris and get familiar with the field, preparing for the match in less than a week.

According to the match schedule, if they pass the group stage, the U23 Vietnam team in Group D will meet one of the two top teams in Group C. In this group, Iraq surprisingly ranked first, while defending champion Saudi Arabia finished the group stage in second place.

The level and class of the two football teams of Saudi Arabia and Iraq are clearly much stronger than Vietnam, but when competing in a knockout match, football is not only full of surprises but anything can happen when the weaker team still wins and eliminates the stronger team.

The problem needs an exact solution.

One issue that coach Hoang Anh Tuan must consider is that according to the tournament rules, the penalty cards received in the group stage will still be counted in the quarter-finals. This forces coach Hoang Anh Tuan to have a suitable calculation of personnel for the match against U.23 Uzbekistan, in order to preserve the best force for U.23 Vietnam when entering the quarter-finals. Therefore, it is likely that the players who received a yellow card, Nguyen Manh Hung, Vo Nguyen Hoang and Nguyen Minh Quang, will not be used.

In addition, players who have been playing continuously such as Le Nguyen Hoang, Vo Hoang Minh Khoa or Nguyen Thai Son, are likely to be given a chance to rest in this match. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan still has some very promising players, but they have not played since the beginning of the tournament, for various reasons. The match with Uzbekistan will be a great opportunity for these players to show themselves.

For Uzbekistan, the Central Asian team has just added two stars from Europe, Abdukodir Khusanov and Abbosbek Fayzullaev. Khusanov currently plays for Lens, has played many times in the Champions League and Europa League. Fayzullaev plays for CSKA Moscow, was the best player of the U20 Asian Cup last year, scoring 4 goals in 13 matches for the national team. Meeting Vietnam will be an opportunity for this duo to "warm up" before the quarter-finals.

In terms of force and expertise, Uzbekistan is rated higher than the "Golden Star Warriors". The current runner-up possesses a quality, even force.

In the past, Vietnam reached the final in 2018 despite being only a team from the fourth seed group and eliminated Iraq (first seed group) and Qatar (second seed group) in the penalty shootout in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, before losing 1-2 to Uzbekistan (third seed group) in the final.

Not placing too much emphasis on achievements in this year’s tournament, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team are playing with a rather relaxed mentality. However, the coach from Khanh Hoa is still trying hard to “create another historical milestone” for Vietnamese football. In 2016, Mr. Tuan and his young national U19 students won their first ticket to the 2017 U20 World Cup.

The reenactment of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship final between U23 Vietnam and U23 Uzbekistan will take place at 10:30 p.m. on April 23 at Khalifa International Stadium (Al Rayyan, Qatar).