U23 China created a surprise when defeating U23 Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, thereby reaching the semi-finals of this playground for the first time. U23 China's opponent is U23 Vietnam.
Before the confrontation with U23 Vietnam, Chinese media pointed out the strengths in the playing style as well as the advantages of coach Kim Sang-sik's team in this match.
With the quarter-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 UAE taking place one day earlier, our opponent has 24 hours more rest than U23 China.
This helps U23 Vietnam have more time to recover their fitness, this will also be their strength to be able to take advantage of the high-intensity playing style against U23 China in the semi-finals.
We also played 120 minutes similar to U23 Vietnam in the quarterfinals but had less than 1 day of rest," a Chinese newspaper commented.
In addition, the leading Chinese sports newspaper also highly appreciated the playing style of U23 Vietnam at this year's tournament, which contributed to helping coach Kim Sang-sik and his team defeat strong opponents to advance to the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.
This newspaper added: "Agile play, flexible transformation and many players creating breakthroughs are the strengths of U23 Vietnam to date. The diversity in attacks is also a threat to the opponent's defenders, this is something that the U23 China defense needs to be wary of.
Also according to Chinese newspapers, U23 China will not have the service of midfielder Yang Haoyu because he has received enough 2 yellow cards, this will also be a significant loss in their playing style.
“Yang Haoyu plays in the defensive midfielder position, and can also play well as a central midfielder. His task is to play a little deeper, support the defense a lot, not lean towards attack.
The absence of Yang Haoyu more or less affects the long-range defense capability of the midfield, forcing the U23 China coaching staff to have appropriate replacement plans, avoiding leading to errors.
