In Vietnam, Korea is a pushover. "Asia's strongest?" It's not as good as it used to be... It's 50:50 now

*This content was translated by AI.

Vietnam's under-23 (U-23) national soccer team, led by head coach Kim Sang-sik, is heating up its fighting spirit ahead of the match against South Korea. Vietnam is confident of winning, pointing out the weakening of Korea's power.

Vietnamese media 'Vietnam Global' reported on the 22nd (Korea time) that "Vietnam is aiming for an upset against South Korea," adding, "This 3rd and 4th place match is the last chance to prove Kim Sang-sik's potential beyond a simple medal match."

Even the media analyzed that Korea's power is not the same as before. "Korea is still one of the strongest in Asia, but it was never unbeatable in this tournament," Vietnam Global said. "Korea's share and pass success rate are high. However, it is so inefficient that he has not scored in three out of five games," he pointed out.

In particular, he pointed to poor decision-making power as a weakness. The media said, "No Korean player has scored more than two goals in this tournament. This is evidence that personal skills are inferior to the system, he said. "South Korea is clearly having difficulty penetrating the opponent's systematic defense." The defense also predicted that it could be vulnerable to Vietnam's long-term fast counterattack due to the slow speed of the offense and defense with six runs in five games.

Earlier, Vietnam lost 0-3 to China in the semifinals. The media pointed out that manager Kim Sang-sik's aggressive tactical change was defeated, but stressed that crisis management and psychological recovery are the key to winning the match against Korea.

There was also a definite motivation. Vietnamese media 'VN Express' reported on the same day, "HAGL Group Chairman Doan Nguyen Duck Hoang Jiali promised a reward of 3 billion dong (about 167 million won) if he wins the match against Korea."

Chairman Duck, who is called a big player in Vietnamese soccer, was originally scheduled to pay the amount when he advanced to the final, but he decided to maintain the same conditions in the third and fourth place matches to boost the disappointed team's morale after losing to China. In addition to the 2 billion won reward for the entire team, five players from the HALF Youth were given a separate personal bonus.

"It's already successful just to advance to the semifinals," Chairman Duck said in an interview with the media. "Winning was a difficult goal, but the fight for third place is worth trying. I think the winning rate against Korea is 50-50. I want to spend this money for coach Kim Sang-sik and the players," he said.

Meanwhile, the third and fourth place matches of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup between Vietnam and South Korea, which are trying to overcome the pain of the finals' frustration, will be held at midnight on the 24th.

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*This content was translated by AI.