Speaking at the press conference before the match against U23 Vietnam, Mr. Hassan Al Mamun - assistant head coach of U23 Bangladesh said: "The 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers is an important opportunity for us to seek and develop talent for the national team. The team has had a month of preparation, including two weeks of training and two friendly matches.
U23 Vietnam is a strong opponent, having won the U23 Southeast Asian championship, possessing a very good physical and tactical foundation. I have information about some outstanding players, such as captain Van Khang who has played for the national team many times, or promising young faces such as Dinh Bac and Quoc Viet. Their midfield is really quality.
In Group C, in addition to U23 Vietnam, U23 Bangladesh will face two other teams, U23 Yemen and U23 Singapore. However, the coaching staff did not have much information about them. However, Bangladesh believes that the competition will be very balanced and all teams will have the opportunity to create surprises.
The biggest disadvantage of U23 Bangladesh in the opening match is that head coach Saiful Bari Titu became ill right after arriving in Vietnam. Most likely, he could not play directly in the match against U23 Vietnam and let his assistant do the task.
The U23 Bangladesh squad for this tournament includes a number of naturalized players. They have experience in international competitions and are expected to help U23 Bangladesh achieve good results. However, the team's form has not been really convincing as they lost both friendly matches against Bahrain with scores of 0-1 and 2-4.
The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Bangladesh will take place at 19:00 on September 3 at Viet Tri Stadium.
