Group C of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers includes 4 teams: U23 Vietnam (host), U23 Yemen, U23 Guam and U23 Singapore. Of which, U23 Guam and U23 Singapore are rated very low due to their lack of experience at the continental level. Therefore, the biggest obstacle for U23 Vietnam in winning the top spot in the group is U23 Yemen.
The team from West Asia does not hide its ambition to top the group, thereby winning a ticket directly to the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. They do not want to wait for the top 4 second-place teams with the best results in 11 groups to continue.
U23 Yemen is a dangerous opponent for U23 Vietnam.
In preparation for Group C of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, Yemen U23 has organized quality training sessions abroad. The strength and ambition of Yemen U23 was also partly demonstrated in the 3-0 victory over Singapore U23.
In this match, U23 Yemen's counter-attacking tactics were effective. They relied on the speed and physicality of "running machines" like Hussein Sadam and Hamzah Hanash. Ahmed Maher's face can be considered the core in U23 Yemen's playing style.
All of Yemen U23's attacks went through this midfielder wearing the number 10 shirt. In addition to many accurate passes into the penalty area for his teammates, Maher's movement, positioning, finishing and acceleration techniques were enough to turn him into a dangerous "detonator".
Two of Yemen U23's three goals against Singapore U23 came from different shooting scenarios executed by the player wearing the number 10 shirt. Having succeeded with the strategy against Singapore U23, Yemen U23 naturally wanted to apply a defensive counter-attacking style against Vietnam U23. Coach Philippe Troussier's team won 6-0 against a weak opponent named Guam U23.
The ability to control the game and attack continuously from both wings was demonstrated by U23 Vietnam against U23 Guam. But from there, many gaps often appeared behind the full-backs or central defenders.
U23 Vietnam cannot be subjective.
If U23 Yemen can exploit that gap, U23 Vietnam may have to endure particularly dangerous counterattacks from the opponent. The loss to U23 Indonesia in the semi-finals of the 2023 SEA Games is still a valuable lesson that coach Troussier and many U23 Vietnam players will surely not forget.
The players still kept their feet on the ground, not being subjective against U23 Yemen. Striker Nguyen Thanh Nhan said: " We still did not do well in the first half of the match against U23 Guam. The whole team lacked cohesion. In my opinion, U23 Vietnam must try very hard in the match against U23 Yemen. This is the most notable and dangerous opponent in this group ."
Calmly organizing the game, controlling the ball, and making sure to take advantage of every opportunity is the way for U23 Vietnam to avoid falling into the "trap" or being caught up in the way U23 Yemen organizes the match's tempo. Only then will the chance of winning, which means getting very close to a ticket to the 5th consecutive U23 Asian Cup Finals, become a reality.
Han Phong
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