U23 Vietnam has passed the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship with two wins against Laos and Cambodia.
Despite winning 6 absolute points and scoring a total of 5 goals, the performance of coach Kim Sang-sik's students still left many concerns, most clearly the ineffectiveness of the attack.
It is worth noting that only one of the 5 goals scored by U23 Vietnam was scored by a true striker, which was Dinh Bac's only goal.
The remaining goals came from defender Nguyen Hieu Minh (2 goals), central defender Ly Duc and midfielder Khuat Van Khang. The fact that the lower-ranked positions have to take turns "carrying" the task of scoring shows that the strikers have not yet met expectations.
On the attack line, names like Quoc Viet and Viktor Le caused great disappointment. Quoc Viet missed many clear opportunities, while Viktor Le almost did not make a difference despite being trusted to start.
Against opponents who are rated lower such as Laos or Cambodia, U23 Vietnam can still create opportunities, but the finishing ability lacks the necessary feeling and coolness. If they do not improve soon, this will be the "death penalty" of U23 Vietnam when entering the semi-finals
Not only the attack, the other two lines of U23 Vietnam have not brought security. The defense played unconcentrated as they continuously lost the ball dangerously and made personal mistakes. The match against Cambodia clearly showed that when the defenders, including Nguyen Hieu Minh, let the opponent take advantage of the weakness to equalize.
In midfield, the ability to control and launch attacks still depends too much on Khuat Van Khang. When this captain was blocked, U23 Vietnam had almost no really breakthrough attack organization plan.
The overall victory in the group stage helps U23 Vietnam have a favorable momentum, but if they do not solve the problem in attack and improve their concentration in the remaining routes, the journey in this year's U23 Southeast Asian tournament will be very difficult when facing truly strong opponents.
