Timor Leste's plan went bankrupt before U23 Vietnam

 Timor Leste's plan went bankrupt before U23 Vietnam

Despite being disadvantaged in terms of force and rest time, U23 Vietnam still forced the opponent to play their way and win a precious ticket to the U23 Southeast Asia final 2022.

13 Vietnamese U23 players compared to 23 on Timor Leste's side, that's the difference in numbers between U23 Vietnam and rival Timor Leste in the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 semi-final that took place last night (February 24).

That difference in force is the decisive factor leading to the tactical choices of the two sides. That difference also makes U23 Vietnam not only brave in spirit, but also superior in expertise. U23 Vietnam forced Timor Leste to have more of an advantage to play to their liking before forcing them to fail on penalties.

U23 Vietnam Timor Leste Thailand England 1

U23 Vietnam defeated the opponent despite the disadvantage of force. Photo: Nguyen Khang.

When Timor Leste can't play doubles

The way Timor Leste entered the match against U23 Vietnam shows that they fully understand their advantages. With a difference of 10 people on the bench, with 2 more days off than U23 Vietnam, rival Timor Leste has a double advantage in both personnel and physical strength. That advantage of them will be best maintained for 90 minutes or at most 120 minutes. Timor Leste did not want to drag the match into a penalty shootout where the numerical advantage no longer existed

As for Vietnam U23, with only 13 people, Tran Bao Toan and his teammates understand that they also have to finish the match as quickly as possible. Every minute that passes will make the advantage more tilted in favor of U23 Timor Leste, especially in the second half and 30 minutes of extra time.

From 2 different starting points, both U23 Vietnam and Timor Leste aim for the same goal: to finish the match in the fastest way possible. But only one team succeeded.

The first 45 minutes on Morodok Techo field showed that even with a patchwork squad, U23 Vietnam is still the team on the feet of Timor Leste. Coach Dinh The Nam's army played a double attack with the opponent, but created more opportunities. Vietnamese players can still do what previous generations did with Timor Leste: control the game, create chances and almost score.

The bright spot of U23 Vietnam against Timor Leste is that despite a series of personnel changes, the team still shows a certain smoothness in gameplay, maintains a good squad distance, and still has group coordination phases. 3-4 people are quite good, surprising the opponent with situations where they can cut the defense armpit, go down the border and hit inside comfortably.

The typical situation for that style of football came in the 45th minute when 3 Vietnamese U23 players coordinated between 4 names of Timor Leste. After 5 passes, they tore open the left side of the opponent, put the ball in for Vo Nguyen Hoang to finish right in front of the 5.5 m area.

Fans feel that Mr. Dinh The Nam's U23 Vietnam is more elegant than Park Hang-seo's Vietnamese U23 seniors in the Asian qualifiers at the end of 2021. This is an interesting point because compared to his senior, Current U23 Vietnam players have lower qualifications, less experience. The chemistry between them is the undisputed result of the collective play that was built long ago when Philippe Troussier was in office.

Throughout the 45 minutes of the first half, U23 Vietnam had at least 3 clear chances while the opponent was almost helpless. Vietnam's 4 fouls, and Timor Leste's 11 shows the confusion from the opposing team, which holds more advantages, actively choosing to play against Vietnam.