On the afternoon of July 28, coach Kim Sang-sik and player Viktor Le of U23 Vietnam attended a press conference before the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian final against U23 Indonesia.
At the beginning of the press conference, coach Kim Sang-sik was cautious before the final match. He said: "This will be a difficult match, it is too early to say anything about the result. We will prepare well and if the players do well as planned, we will win."
Before the final match, U23 Vietnam had a small advantage when playing only 90 matches in the semi-finals, while U23 Indonesia had to go through extra time, then a penalty shootout against Thailand. However, coach Kim Sang-sik said this did not have too much impact.
"I think their squad won't change. Although U23 Indonesia played 120 minutes against Thailand and had many young players, with 3 days off, I think Indonesia will not change anything.
We played one game less and that was a small advantage. But in the final match, there will be more tension and pressure, so the competitive spirit is very important. The whole team will try to overcome this challenge," coach Kim Sang-sik added.
Meanwhile, midfielder Viktor Le said the whole team is very confident and ready for the final match. He also revealed that he was not pressured by having to score when playing.
"We have prepared well, the whole team is taking steps, getting ready for the final match and getting good results, bringing the championship trophy to Vietnam.
I am always confident in every match. I don't think much about scoring. The more you think, the more difficult it will be to score. The important thing is to keep a comfortable competitive spirit. If the goal comes, I will be very happy," said Viktor Le.
The 2025 U23 Southeast Asian final between U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia will take place at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow (July 29). The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) has officially announced the application of VAR technology at the match.
AFF said that the decision to deploy VAR in the final match is to ensure the highest standards of refereeing and fair-play spirit, while affirming that applying VAR in the match that decides the championship will contribute to improving the accuracy in key situations and enhancing fairness and transparency for the tournament.
