Important test of U19 Vietnam

Lack of troops but not a big problem

At the 2026 U19 Southeast Asian Championship held in Indonesia, U19 Vietnam did not have the strongest force. A series of key and potential players of this age group could not participate for various reasons. Le Phat, Quang Kiet, Gia Bao, Van Hoan and their managing team played in the V.League; overseas Vietnamese midfielder Antonio Moric continued to Europe to look for development opportunities; Pham Anh Khoi missed the tournament due to injury.

But from his perspective, expert Phan Anh Tu believes that this is not too worrying: "The absence of some players due to being busy competing in domestic leagues, in my opinion, is not too big an obstacle. The important thing is that we should not put too much pressure on the achievements of young players. When they have to bear too much pressure, they easily lose confidence and creativity, while this is the stage that needs to be developed most comprehensively.

On the other hand, the gap left by the pillars also opens up opportunities for factors who once impressed in the U17 Vietnam shirt. 1 year ago, many of these players were very close to the ticket to the U17 World Cup 2025 and accumulated a lot of international competition experience, such as: Xuan Tin, Viet Anh, Hong Phong, Duc Vu or Van Bach, Duy Khang, Thien Phu...

According to expert Phan Anh Tu, the most important thing in a youth tournament is not the number of outstanding players or the final result.

For youth teams, what needs to be recognized after each tournament is not only the result of winning or losing, but also the limitations and weaknesses revealed during the competition process. It is these experiences of collision and friction that help players mature more. Do not break the training orientation or affect the development process of the players because of short-term achievement goals" - Mr. Tu said.

Professional challenges

At this year's tournament, 11 teams are divided into three groups. Only 3 first-placed teams and one second-placed team with the best results qualify for the semi-finals. This is a format that makes the competition much fiercer than in previous years.

U19 Vietnam is in the same group with U19 Indonesia, U19 Myanmar and U19 Timor Leste. In which, Timor Leste is considered the weakest in the group. However, if this team is at the bottom of the group, the head-to-head result will not be counted when comparing the achievements of the runners-up teams. This means that even if they win big against Timor Leste, U19 Vietnam can still be disadvantaged if they do not win the top spot.

The most feasible goal for coach Yutaka Ikeuchi and his team is to defeat U19 Indonesia to decide their own fate. This is not an easy task when the home team has prepared forces for a long time.

Expert Phan Anh Tu said: "This is a relatively manageable group for U19 Vietnam. For many years, Vietnamese youth football, including the U19 generation, has been invested quite methodically and has a clear orientation. Most of the players have grown up from quality youth training centers, trained in a professional environment from an early age.

U19 Vietnam is led by a Japanese coach, who has had enough time to work to convey football philosophy, build discipline as well as the fighting spirit for the players”.

Expert Phan Anh Tu believes that, in terms of expertise, U19 Vietnam is still in the strong group of the region thanks to its technical foundation and training quality. Southeast Asian youth football always contains many unpredictable factors. The results on the field also depend on the opponent's fighting spirit, adaptability, psychology, collision situations and even dirty tricks.