A draw is risky
The 33rd SEA Games men's football tournament is organized in a new format with 3 groups, each group has 3 teams and only 3 teams are selected to win the group, 1 second-place team with the best results enters the semi-finals. This ranking and division of the table makes men's football at this tournament more unpredictable. Rarely has it been seen that U22 Vietnam, U22 Malaysia and U22 Indonesia are all facing such a high risk of being eliminated.
The story of U22 Vietnam and U22 Malaysia is simpler than Indonesia. Head coach of Indonesia U22 - Mr. Indra Sjafri mentioned the possibility that his two opponents could proactively draw in the final round to eliminate Indonesia from the tournament. The team from the archipelago needs to beat U22 Myanmar and wait for the results in Group B to know whether they will continue or not.
U22 Vietnam is currently ranked second in the group due to a goal loss to U22 Malaysia, but only needs 1 point to ensure their progress. However, history says that many Vietnamese youth teams often fall at this threshold when "only need a draw to continue". Coach Kim Sang-sik himself understands that level playing chess is very risky.
U22 Malaysia also understands that they only need to focus on defense and wait for counter-attack opportunities. The most mentioned scenario was not a victory for Van Khang and his teammates. They hypotised that U22 Vietnam still played well, controlled the match but had not scored yet, then U22 Malaysia took a lead from the flashy counter-attacks.
Moreover, if they only draw with U22 Malaysia and are second in the group, U22 Vietnam will definitely face host U22 Thailand in the semi-finals. Coach Kim Sang-sik may not want this. To overcome difficulties and think about the long distance at the 33rd SEA Games, Mr. Kim clearly needs a victory to bring peace of mind to fans.
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After the first two matches of Group B, U22 Malaysia was the team that played more effectively than U22 Vietnam. The 2-1 victory over U22 Laos put the "Golden Star Warriors" in a difficult position. They are not allowed to repeat the mistakes they have made because the price they have to pay could be the ticket to the next round.
Basically, U22 Laos is not a test suitable for the U22 Vietnam defense. Apart from the somewhat unlucky goal, the U22 Vietnam defenders did not make any obvious mistakes. The opportunity to join the team of a million elephants comes from the personal efforts of Kampane or Damoth Thongkham Savath.
However, the new attack is an unresolved problem for coach Kim Sang-sik. First, U22 Malaysia, despite playing defensively, is still a team with superior strength compared to Laos. If the opponent continues to fall behind, the fact that U22 Vietnam is in a deadlock and has difficulty scoring will not surprise anyone.
However, the U22 Vietnam coaching staff will certainly be worried about the shots of Van Khang, Quoc Viet, Thanh Nhan and even Dinh Bac. Dinh Bac scored both goals but he missed many opportunities because his finishing skills were not really special and his thinking of playing football was not clearly formed. Quoc Viet or Thanh Nhan had at least 4 chances but unfortunately wasted them. Coach Kim Sang-sik understands that winning is a must.
It will not be surprising if U22 Vietnam brings on players who make a difference such as Viktor Le, Le Van Thuan or Nguyen Ngoc My. However, every decision needs to be carefully considered to ensure the safety of U22 Vietnam in the group with many unpredictable fluctuations.
The match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Malaysia in the final match of Group B of the 33rd SEA Games will take place at 4:00 p.m. on December 11.
