Vietnam eliminated three players before the opening match of U23 Southeast Asia
Accordingly, the three players who had to part with the team were defender Le Van Ha, midfielder Tran Ngoc Son and striker Vu Minh Hieu. This trio will return to their home country tomorrow and continue to wait for the opportunity in the reunion of the Vietnamese Olympic team to prepare for ASIAD 19.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan spent time encouraging the students. He emphasized that all players present at Rayong at this time have the right to be proud of themselves when they surpass many other colleagues in the country to be called up. However, the provisions of the Charter only allow each team to register a maximum of 23 players, so the Coaching Board must calculate to ensure the most reasonable layout of positions for the squad to compete in the tournament.
He also reminded the three eliminated players to maintain their spirit as well as the desire to contribute, actively maintain a training regime when returning to the club, to always be in a state of readiness when being called up again.
In the training session this afternoon, coach Hoang Anh Tuan mainly implemented gentle exercises, interspersed with "mini games" to create excitement for the players. The reduction in the volume and intensity of exercise before the match is also understandable, because in yesterday's important tactical training session the players had to work at full capacity to meet the requirements of the Training Board.
The match between Vietnam and Laos in Group C will take place tomorrow at 4pm on August 20 at Rayong Stadium. This is the first match of Vietnam in the tournament, and the second match of Laos. In the opening match on August 18, Laos drew the Philippines 2-2. Therefore, a victory against the young team of millions of Elephants will help teachers and coach Hoang Anh Tuan put one foot in the semi-finals.
The 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship has 10 teams divided into three groups. In Group C, besides Vietnam and Laos, there is also the Philippines. The teams play in a round-robin, selecting the three group winners and the best second-place team to advance to the semi-finals.
Because the U23 team has many tournaments in the second half of 2023, the Vietnam Football Federation VFF decided to divide it into two teams. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan led the second team, mainly U20 players, to attend the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship and ASIAD 19, while coach Philippe Troussier led the main team to attend the 2024 Asian U23 qualifier.
This year's tournament will be held in two cities of Rayong and Chonburi from August 17 to August 26. Vietnam competes in Rayong, nearly 200 km from Bangkok.
