After the 0-1 defeat to U23 Vietnam in the last match of Group A of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, coach Luigi Biagio of U23 Saudi Arabia had frank shares, including many compliments for goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien and pointing out the time when his team lost the game.
Assessing the performance of the U23 Vietnam goalkeeper, Mr. Biagio admitted that this is one of the key factors leading to the result of the match. "It must be admitted that the goalkeeper of U23 Vietnam today had a match that was even more wonderful. We shot a lot, implemented enough attacking options, but he always maintained extremely high concentration.
According to the Italian strategist, Trung Kien's experience and fighting spirit have significantly affected the pace of the match. “He is a very experienced goalkeeper. He knows how to slow down the pace of the match at necessary times to reduce our excitement. However, this is also understandable because U23 Vietnam only needs a draw to achieve their goal”.
Concluding the commentary, coach Luigi Biagio sent congratulations to the opponent. "Congratulations to him and congratulations to U23 Vietnam. You have achieved truly important results and deserve the top spot in this group.
Speaking about the developments in the second half and the moment that caused U23 Saudi Arabia to collapse, Mr. Biagio said that his students still created opportunities but did not take advantage of them successfully. He said: "As I explained earlier, football is sometimes like that. In the second half, although there were opinions that we did not play well, in reality we still created 3 to 4 clear scoring opportunities".
According to the head coach of U23 Saudi Arabia, the decline in fitness and the conceded goal strongly affected the team's fighting spirit. He said: "As time passed, things became more difficult and the players began to feel tired. After conceding a goal, our motivation and excitement almost disappeared.
Mr. Biagio also shared about the risky personnel decisions in the second half: "I tried to make substitutions even though it was quite risky. Some players like Al Ammami are actually not in the best physical condition to play because he just returned from injury, but I still want to challenge.
In his final statement, the U23 Saudi Arabia coach admitted that the defeat was a big shock to the whole team, despite superior professional indicators: "We played the match exactly as we had prepared, tried to be patient, organized attacks methodically and orderly. However, a harsh scenario occurred when we were punished right on the opponent's first target shot.
“Football is like that, we have to accept it. This is a lesson for young players to mature more. The statistics are really amazing. We launched 26 shots compared to only 4 shots from the opponent. But once again, that is football,” Mr. Biagio concluded.
