The 1-4 defeat to U17 Korea caused U17 Vietnam to miss the opportunity to soon win a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship. Leading the opponent for most of the time, but then Sy Bach and his teammates conceded consecutive goals in the final period of the match.
Coach Cristiano Roland's students showed a big problem of the young players, which is unstable playing psychology at decisive moments. In addition, the lack of experience in conceding goals was also revealed.
However, the door to the 2026 U17 World Cup is still not closed for U17 Vietnam. After 2 matches, the Southeast Asian representative has 3 points and is ranked 2nd in Group C, equal in points with U17 Yemen but better in head-to-head stats. Meanwhile, U17 South Korea leads with 4 points, and U17 UAE is at the bottom of the group with 1 point.
This makes the final round a direct competition between U17 Vietnam and U17 UAE for a ticket to the next round. If they win, Mr. Roland's team will definitely reach the quarter-finals, synonymous with a ticket to the U17 World Cup.
A draw is enough for U17 Vietnam to advance in case U17 Yemen does not beat U17 Korea. Conversely, defeat will cause the young Vietnamese team to be eliminated.
In another development, after U17 Qatar stopped from the group stage, the spot for the 3rd-placed team with the best results was no longer considered because Qatar is the host of the U17 World Cup. Therefore, U17 Vietnam has no choice but to finish the group stage in 1 of the top 2 positions.
The pressure on young players at this time is very high, not only because of the decisive nature of the match, but also from the lessons just learned against U17 Korea.
U17 Vietnam once played confidently, maintained a reasonable formation distance and at times made it difficult for the opponent to deploy the ball. However, when the pressure increased at the end of the match, personal errors and lack of concentration continuously appeared.
That is what coach Cristiano Roland must definitely find ways to improve before the confrontation with U17 UAE. The West Asian team is in a situation where they must win, so it is likely to push up the squad from the beginning. This may open up space for U17 Vietnam to counter-attack, but at the same time also put pressure on the defense continuously.
In addition to psychological factors, U17 Vietnam must also pay special attention to 2 outstanding factors on the U17 UAE side. First is Jayden Adetiba, a player who grew up from Arsenal academy before joining Ipswich Town.
This striker has good speed, flexible ball handling and often exploits space behind the opponent's defense. Adetiba himself once assisted against U17 Vietnam in the previous tournament.
The remaining name is goalkeeper Joshua Bentley, younger brother of goalkeeper Daniel Bentley who is playing in England. Although only 17 years old, Bentley has a height of nearly 1m90 and quite modern leg play ability.
The U17 UAE goalkeeper not only saved well but also supported the counter-attack deployment with accurate long passes.
Against an opponent with many quality players, U17 Vietnam needs to maintain maximum concentration. Reality shows that the professional gap between Asian youth teams is not too large. The difference may lie in the ability to control psychology and how to handle it at the highest pressure time.
If they overcome this barrier, U17 Vietnam has every opportunity to create a historical milestone with their first appearance at the U17 World Cup.
The match between U17 Vietnam and U17 UAE takes place at 0:00 on May 14.
