Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: 'U23 Vietnam deservedly defeated U23 Malaysia'

(Dan Tri) - Coach Hoang Anh Tuan praised his players after the 2-0 victory of U23 Vietnam over U23 Malaysia, thereby winning a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship.

Van Khang's free kick and Minh Khoa's penalty goal helped U23 Vietnam defeat U23 Malaysia 2-0 on the evening of April 20 at Khalifa Stadium (Qatar). Winning the second consecutive match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team won tickets to the quarterfinals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. Speaking after the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "I don't know what word is more accurate than satisfaction to describe this match. We will play better in each match. The players played well in terms of technique and tactics. The score accurately assessed the nature of the match. U23 Vietnam deserved to win."

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is satisfied with the performance of U23 Vietnam (Photo: AFC).

Despite the 2-0 victory, coach Hoang Anh Tuan admitted that U23 Vietnam faced many difficulties, especially at the end of the match. "The whole team played a very hard match against U23 Malaysia. I said before the tournament that there were no weak teams in this group. Although U23 Vietnam won, we went through difficult times, especially in the last minutes of the second half. Tactically, I made a few changes. As the match got closer to the end, U23 Vietnam had to preserve the score, so the team switched to a defensive counter-attacking style to achieve the final result." The two victories of U23 Vietnam reminded coach Hoang Anh Tuan of the 2023 U20 Asian Cup. At that time, U20 Vietnam also had 2 wins in the group stage but was eliminated.

U23 Vietnam won all 2 group stage matches (Photo: VFF).

The captain of U23 Vietnam shared: "The nature of the tournament and the matches of the U20 age group are completely different from the U23. I do not have any subjective thoughts. Many of the current U23 Vietnam players have participated in the U20 tournament before, they themselves understand the nature of the matches and their future goals. I do not need to say too much about that. The whole team understands the common goal that was clearly set from the beginning of the tournament". Regarding the final match of the group stage with U23 Uzbekistan, coach Hoang Anh Tuan affirmed that U23 Vietnam will play at their best: "The next match is also a very important match for U23 Vietnam. Regardless of the result of the match between U23 Uzbekistan and U23 Kuwait, we still have to concentrate highly on the match against U23 Uzbekistan. I still say that my students will still play at their best. Because this is an opportunity for U23 Vietnam players to gain experience and knowledge for their future".

Dantri.com.vn