Comments on the final of U23 Southeast Asia, U23 Vietnam vs U23 Indonesia, 20:00 on July 29: Hat-trick of championship?

Comments before the match U23 Vietnam vs U23 Indonesia

Vietnam U23 is aiming for an unbelievable record in the Southeast Asian U23 tournament: winning the championship for 3 consecutive times. This is a task within reach of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team after their performance in Indonesia.

Up to this point, U23 Vietnam has not faced any significant challenges. In the group stage, the red team defeated U23 Laos and U23 Cambodia to take the top spot. In the semi-finals, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Philippines in a completely dominant match. Although they only won by a margin of 2-1, U23 Vietnam created a series of scoring opportunities.

Overall, the framework built by coach Kim Sang-sik is working well, especially the defense with the excellence of Ly Duc and goalkeeper Trung Kien. The Korean coach has gradually tested the lineup and found the most suitable factors. Not only that, he also boldly rotated the players, ensuring the physical foundation of U23 Vietnam in the face of the dense competition schedule of U23 Southeast Asia.

Before U23 Philippines, coach Kim Sang-sik caused a big surprise when using young talent Nguyen Cong Phuong even though this midfielder was on the bench for 2 group stage matches. Facing U23 Indonesia today, coach Kim Sang-sik promised to launch another "trump card". It is worth knowing that up to this point, U23 Vietnam's number 10 Nguyen Thanh Dat has not played once and only played for 25 minutes against U23 Cambodia. In addition, Viktor Le, Le Van Son, Pham Minh Phuc... are also eager to prove themselves.

U23 Vietnam will solve the match with a set piece situation

On the other hand, U23 Indonesia advanced to the final after a thrilling victory over U23 Thailand in a penalty shootout. The home team had an impressive performance when they controlled the ball better than U23 Thailand. However, they conceded the first goal and faced more dangerous situations throughout the 120 minutes.

In this tournament, U23 Indonesia only called up one naturalized star, Jens Raven. This greatly affected their strength. Raven is playing excellently, but he alone can hardly make a difference when U23 Indonesia faces opponents of equal level. This was clearly shown in the semi-finals.

At the 2023 Southeast Asian U23, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Indonesia in the final match on penalties, after the two teams drew 0-0. A similar scenario could happen tonight. In theory, U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia both possess excellent attacking stars. However, both teams are ready to "play hard" and become pragmatic when necessary.

Faced with great pressure from the stands, U23 Vietnam will likely switch to defensive counter-attacking play and wait for the opponent's mistake, just like U23 Thailand did.

Expected lineup U23 Vietnam vs U23 Indonesia

U23 Vietnam: Trung Kien; Ly Duc, Hieu Minh, Nhat Minh, Anh Quan, Cong Phuong, Xuan Bac, Phi Hoang, Van Khang, Van Truong, Dinh Bac.

U23 Indonesia: Ardiansyah; Maulana Syarif, Kadek Arel, Kakang Rudianto, Frengky Missa; Pamungkas, Dominikus Dion, Robi Darwis; Rayhan Hannan, Jens Raven, Rahmat Arjuna.

Score prediction: U23 Vietnam 2-2 U23 Indonesia

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