Tuan Phong: Three Identical Matches, U23 Vietnam Enter Quarterfinals With a Known Fear

When the referee's whistle ended the match against Uzbekistan, U23 Vietnam had secured a place in the men's football quarterfinals at ASIAD 2026. Yet the mood in the stands and mixed zone was not a celebration. The 0-2 scoreline reflected the game: a stronger, better organized opponent, and U23 Vietnam repeating what they had done throughout three group matches. Former international Nguyen Tuan Phong told Tuoi Tre: “Three identical matches. U23 Vietnam missed too many chances.”

I watched all three group matches. What bothered me was not the result, but the repetition: good possession, plenty of chances, wasted chances, then goals conceded too easily. If it happened once, I would call it variance. Three consecutive matches is a structural signal. I still keep an old habit: I do not look for answers in a single match. A match is only where a death is announced, not where it happens.

For U23 Vietnam at ASIAD 2026, the death of the defense was announced from the squad list. Two first-choice center backs, Hieu Minh and Nhat Minh, were unavailable. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh was forced to use a back three of Duc Anh, Le Nguyen Hoang and Pham Ly Duc. They are not bad players, but they had never played together in a major tournament. Tuan Phong pointed out something many people miss: the center backs did not cover for one another. Both goals were conceded too easily, not because Uzbekistan produced unusually complex attacking moves, but because a reshuffled defense could not read the danger.

The back three itself was not the problem. In modern football, a three-center-back structure is familiar. The issue is how those three operated while both wing backs pushed high at the same time. When possession was lost in midfield, there were only three men behind the ball who had not yet developed a shared covering reflex. Uzbekistan did not need to play complicated football. They only needed to transition quickly and attack the space behind the wing back.

The clearest signal came on the left flank. Le Dinh Long Vu was repeatedly exploited in the first half. Only in the second half, when Phi Hoang came on, did the situation improve. That is a positive sign: the staff could read the problem and correct it. It is also a worrying sign: they corrected it only after the damage had been done. In a quarterfinal, a better opponent may punish the team before it can adjust.

The biggest blind spot is the holding midfield role. The midfield included Xuan Bac and Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong, but both lean forward. No one sat in front of the defense to break up play and win second balls. Tuan Phong called it the Thai Son type of midfielder that this squad does not have. He said something worth considering: we seem unable to find such a player. A back three without a holding midfielder is like a machine without a brake.

Up front, the story was no better. Tuan Phong did not say the team needed one individual to shine. He said the team lacked a class player at decisive moments, the kind who can create something from nothing. With Dinh Bac absent, the attacking play became even and predictable. The phrase “missed many chances” sounds positive, but we do not have xG to know how dangerous those chances really were. If most were shots from difficult angles, the problem is not poor finishing but poor chance quality.

Group C at ASIAD 2026 was not especially harsh for U23 Vietnam. Besides Uzbekistan, the other two opponents, Kuwait and Philippines, were not rated at the same level. That is why the ticket to the next round was close to a minimum requirement. The team did it, but the way they did it exposed more than one issue. Tuan Phong used the phrase “three identical matches” not to mock. He was pointing out that the team did not improve from match to match; it kept rotating inside the same script.

Looking back over the three matches, Tuan Phong's reading is clear. He did not deny the progress. He called the quarterfinal ticket precious. But he deliberately placed it next to a list of weaknesses: a makeshift defense, no holding midfielder, and an attack short of class. He also mentioned the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup, where an older generation beat South Korea on penalties in the third-place match. Compared with the squad under coach Kim Sang Sik, this squad is considered weaker. “There are still many deficiencies, so hoping for a surprise is very difficult” — that sentence is not just about this match. It is shaping expectations for the quarterfinal.

In a short tournament, coaches usually have no time for experiments. But at ASIAD 2026, the three group matches were the only laboratory before the knockout round. If all three produced the same structural outcome, there is no reason to believe the fourth match will be different simply because the team wears different shirts. That is why Tuan Phong's assessment is worth more than ordinary criticism. It raises a question the staff must answer with personnel, not with statements.

I could be wrong. I do not have xG, PPDA or final-third pass data to challenge Tuan Phong. His diagnosis is based on the feel of a former international, not a complete data verdict. If Hieu Minh or Nhat Minh return in time, if coach Dinh Hong Vinh adds a defensive midfielder instead of two attacking midfielders, the defensive risk drops considerably. If the draw helps U23 Vietnam avoid South Korea and Saudi Arabia, a semifinal path is not unrealistic. But I am old enough not to convict a team before the starting lineup is published.

So what will be tested? Only one thing: whether the midfield gains a true shield in front of the center backs. If Xuan Bac and Quoc Cuong still start together, if the back line still contains three unfamiliar names, I am sure the quarterfinal will repeat the Uzbekistan script, no matter which strong team stands opposite. If the staff fix the right pain point, U23 Vietnam can turn this difficult ticket into another story. Football is never what you think it is, but it always exposes what you repeat.