Vietnam - Indonesia: Defending the throne of Southeast Asia U23?

*Vietnam - Indonesia: 8pm Saturday, August 26, on MetaSports.

In the group stage, Vietnam played not so impressively. Mainly because coach Hoang Anh Tuan constantly shuffles the squad, giving opportunities to many young players. In the opening match, his team was not too dominant, even at times under pressure when Laos equalized 1-1. Thanks to the above adjustment to the attack, Vietnam only scored three goals in the last 15 minutes to win 4-1. The team then only defeated the Philippines with a minimum difference of 1-0. But in the semi-finals, with the strongest squad, Vietnam showed a completely different face, solving Malaysia right in the first half when leading by three goals. Despite withdrawing some of the pillars such as Xuan Tien, Minh Khoa, Dinh Duy or Quoc Viet to the field to recuperate for the final, the team still ended the match with a 4-1 victory.

Under the guidance of coach Hoang Anh Tuan, Vietnam tries to build a ball-control game, actively imposing an offensive posture. However, the team still had moments of distraction in defense, and the attack still missed many opportunities. This is also understandable when the schedule is thick, making the training board not have much time to train. Before each match, the team only had one practice session, mainly to relax and recover.

Yesterday afternoon's training session was the first time Vietnam practiced tactics before a match in this tournament, lasting about 30 minutes to practice how to deal with Indonesia's throw-ins. This is one of the weapons of the team of thousands of islands, with a strong throwing force like a free kick, putting the ball directly in front of the goal to find scoring opportunities. Indonesia has three goals from throw-in situations at the 32nd SEA Games, and once conceded Thailand in the semi-finals of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan arranged from five to seven players to stand in the penalty area to deal with throw-in situations near the home team's goal. He also rehearsed to divide the blocking role, helping goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan and his teammates have clear communication in disputed situations. Defender Hong Phuc said that the team had analyzed it very carefully and carefully prepared to deal with the opponent's poison attack.

Compared to Indonesia, Vietnam has an advantage in terms of personnel when no player is injured or suspended. The team also had good fitness when they won easily in the semi-finals. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is having the opportunity to raise the championship for the first time when he leads a young Vietnamese team. The Khanh Hoa coach was assigned by VFF to hold U16, U17, U19, U20, U21, making a big splash with his achievement in the semi-finals of the 2016 AFC U19 Championship, helping Vietnam to have an 11-man football team win tickets for the first time. attend the world playground - U20 World Cup 2017. However, he lacked a bit of luck to be able to win the tournament, when he lost to Thailand in the 2015 final and a year later lost to Australia in the semi-finals of the tournament. U19.

Indonesia attended U23 Southeast Asia with a strong squad, including nine new players who won the SEA Games gold medal three months ago such as goalkeeper Ernando Ari, defender Haykal Alhafiz, Alfeandra Dewangga, Bagas Kafffa, midfielder Bekham Putra, money Director Ramadhan Sananta... However, they did not play well in the group stage, when they lost to Malaysia 1-2, struggled to beat Timor Leste 1-0 and only won "the ticket" to the semi-finals as a successful second team. the best score (partly thanks to Vietnam defeating the Philippines in the last round). Coach Shin therefore received a lot of criticism, even being asked to resign by fans.

However, the team from the land of ten thousand islands seemed to make a change when entering the semi-finals, playing impressively and defeating host Thailand 3-1. This is the second time when he went to Indonesia, coach Shin reached the final of a tournament.

At this tournament, Indonesia still maintains a fiery style of play, sometimes considered violent, and does not hesitate to enter the ball with all its feet. This game is like a double-edged sword. They can make the opponent falter, not performing at their best, but also often get injured, leading to loss of force. That is happening with Indonesia, when there are only 16 players left to be able to face Vietnam.

According to Indonesian media, the most unfortunate absence is captain Bagas Kaffa. Before the semi-final against Thailand, coach Shin plans to continue to trust Kaffa in the right-back position. However, this player was later not in the starting line-up and according to information provided by the Indonesian Football Federation, he suffered an injury during the warm-up before the match. He is unlikely to make it to the finals.

In addition to injuries, Indonesia also faced a shortage of personnel because of the error of selecting people before the tournament. They could only use 21 players instead of 23 like other teams, due to choosing Titan Agung and Komang Teguh, but both had to receive a ban from AFC due to a fight in the 32nd SEA Games final with Thailand.