High form of U23 Vietnam
U23 Vietnam had an impressive start at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team and defending champion U23 Japan are the two rare teams to win all 9 points after the group stage. This is also the first time in 10 consecutive years of participating in the AFC U23 Championship, a young Vietnamese team finished at the top of the group with 3 absolute victories.
The foundation for U23 Vietnam's success comes from the ability to defend tightly and the upgraded counter-attacking style. According to statistics from the Asian Football Confederation, U23 Vietnam is in the top 5 highest scoring teams and top 4 clean sheet teams; ranked 2nd in terms of the number of corner kicks and in the top 3 teams with the highest number of dangerous situations in the group stage.
This comes from the construction of the squad framework in 2 different directions by coach Kim Sang Sik. In the defense, he created stability by regularly using the framework of goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien and 3 central defenders Nguyen Hieu Minh, Pham Ly Duc and Nguyen Nhat Minh. In addition, the midfield duo Nguyen Thai Son and Nguyen Xuan Bac also continuously took the field from the starting lineup.
Meanwhile, the group of attacking players with 2 winger faces and 3 forwards were constantly exchanged. Therefore, U23 Vietnam became more flexible in counter-attacks, while firmly reinforcing the defensive front. Mr. Kim himself and his colleagues also studied the opponent carefully. For example, before the quarter-final match with U23 UAE, the Korean strategist and 7 assistants were present in the stands to watch the opponent play in the decisive match in the group stage.
Regarding preparation and force, after a day of relaxation and physical recovery, U23 Vietnam has returned to the wheel with 2 important training sessions on January 14 and 15. Good news for coach Kim Sang-sik is that striker Nguyen Thanh Nhan is ready to reappear after half a month of treating muscle injury. Conversely, Mr. Kim is somewhat worried when Le Van Thuan and Dinh Bac show signs of overload. The possibility of these two players starting in the quarter-final match against U23 UAE is still open but they can still play.
Another factor that U23 Vietnam needs to be especially careful about is the issue of penalty cards after the group stage. Currently, 7 players of the team have received 1 yellow card including Dinh Bac, Thai Son, Phi Hoang, Anh Quan, Ly Duc, Cong Phuong and Minh Phuc. If they have to receive another yellow card in the quarterfinals, the above cases will not be able to participate in the semi-finals if U23 Vietnam is convenient to advance.
U23 UAE disadvantaged
In the opposite direction, U23 UAE did not have as good preparation as U23 Vietnam. The West Asian representative won a ticket to continue 1 day after U23 Vietnam and only had 1 more training session to train the players. Of course, this is a big disadvantage for coach Marcelo Broli's team before the quarter-final match.
The Uruguayan coach can only focus all his strength on analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of U23 Vietnam. He shared: "Vietnam plays cohesively, defends firmly, adheres to tactics and switches to a good state to counter-attack. That is a very capable team and is having a successful tournament.
One of coach Broli's concerns is the finishing ability of the UAE. He frankly admitted this weakness and asked the team to make efforts to improve before facing Vietnam.
If there is an advantage for U23 UAE, it is the head-to-head record in the past. In 8 encounters with Vietnam at the U23 level, UAE has not lost a single match. However, this is just a reference statistic over time. The change in the generation of players as well as the performance of each tournament is always specific to youth tournaments. At this time, U23 Vietnam possesses a generation of players who are in high form, which is the basis for believing in a victory against U23 UAE to win the right to continue.
The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 UAE in the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will take place at 10:30 PM on January 16.
