U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Kyrgyzstan after a penalty shootout
Played better and created some opportunities, but U23 Vietnam still could not put the ball into the U23 Kyrgyz net and was forced to play the penalty kicks. As a result, U23 Vietnam lost 4-5 after Quoc Viet failed to beat the goalkeeper of Kyrgyz team.
29/03/2023 16:57:51
In this match, coach Philippe Troussier only had one adjustment, the goalkeeper position with the return of Quan Van Chuan. The goal of the French coach is to take advantage of the status of the players who have played in the starting lineup in the match against UAE U23 as well as avoid putting unnecessary psychological pressure on other players.
Against a not-so-strong opponent, the U23 Vietnam players are the ones who take the initiative and control the ball better. Even they had a few chances, but really still have not created a danger on the opponent’s goal. Meanwhile, U23 Kyrzyzstan had to wait until the 19th minute to have the first shot, but it was not difficult for goalkeeper Van Chuan.
Holding the ball a lot, but the offensive lines of U23 Vietnam are still not elegant enough against the Kyrgyz opponent. Meanwhile, U23 Vietnam’s defense still leaves gaps for opponents to exploit. In the 45th minute, U23 Vietnam almost conceded a goal from the opponent’s header after the corner kick. Fortunately for U23 Vietnam, goalkeeper Van Chuan flew to save the ball with his fingertips.
In the second half, U23 Kyrgyz accelerated the game and organized more attacks towards goalkeeper Van Chuan’s goal. Therefore, the defense of U23 Vietnam also works harder. However, U23 Vietnam is still the ones who hold the advantage and create many attacking pieces. However, at the last moments that could create a dangerous ball for the Kyrgyz goal, U23 Vietnam unfortunately missed it.
Since the 84th minute, U23 Kyrgyz had only played with 10 people, when defender Midin got a second yellow card (into a red card) and had to leave the field. Play with more player, U23 Vietnam tried to pressurize with consecutive attacks to find a goal at the end of the game. Specially, in the 90th minute, Khuat Van Khang had a very dangerous free kick at 24 meters, but the ball still did not go into the net.
Draw 2 main halfs with the score 0-0, the two teams entered the penalty shootout. As a result, U23 Vietnam lost 4-5 when Quoc Viet could not beat goalkeeper Artem.
This result makes U23 Vietnam ranked last among the 10 teams participating in the U23 Doha Cup 2023. Anyway, U23 Vietnam is still comforted when in this match, striker Nguyen Thanh Nhan still received the Player of the match. The player wearing the number 10 shirt in the U23 Vietnam squad played very aggressively and created some bright opportunities for his teammates in attack. Unfortunately, U23 Vietnam could not take advantage to concede the U23 Kyrgyz net.
“I think in this match, I and the whole U23 Vietnam team played a match that met the requirements of the coaching board. It’s about playing in control of the ball and applying what I’ve been practicing. In the penalty shootout, U23 Vietnam could not win against U23 Kyrgyzstan. Anyway, the U23 Doha Cup is just the beginning for U23 Vietnam to move towards the goal of winning the 32nd SEA Games gold medal. We will work hard to train towards this tournament,” Thanh Nhan said.
Thus, U23 Vietnam has closed the international friendly tournament U23 Cup. If only looking at the results of the matches, it is clear that coach Philippe Troussier’s team have not met the expectations of the fans, but in terms of expertise, it can be affirmed that the players have had a very valuable experience. That is to compete against each other, to test new gameplay, new tactics with more qualified opponents. They will certainly also mature when they are put in different difficult situations, different challenges, such as having to play with less players in the first game, the ability to maintain the status to the second match, or how is the mentality when facing the penalty shootout in the third match, etc. All are useful lessons for young players.
