Vietnamese players join their captain Dụng Quang Nho (No 6) in celebrating. Việt Nam beat Singapore 7-0 at the 2022 AFF U23 Championship held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Saturday. — Photo VFF

Football

HÀ NỘI —  Việt Nam's U23 head coach Đinh Thế Nam was keen to keep his players grounded, despite a thumping 7-0 victory over Singapore at the opening match of the 2022 AFF U23 Championship in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Saturday.

According to Nam, Singapore were much weaker due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the available squad.

Việt Nam’s goals came from Nguyễn Văn Tùng (two), Đinh Xuân Tiến, Dụng Quang Nho, Nguyễn Ngọc Thắng, Nguyễn Thanh Khôi and Vũ Tiến Long. 

“I congratulate Vietnamese players on a good performance and a big win,” coach Nam said after the match.

“I think Singapore were affected by the absence of some players that tested positive for COVID. That partly affected the game,” said Nam.

“Singapore only registered 14 players for this match. That was a huge loss. If they had enough players, they could have caused more difficulties,” Nam added.

However, the strong 7-0 victory showed the strengths of U23 football in Việt Nam right now.

Nam said that Việt Nam's U23 players are mainly aged 20-21. He wishes to find 4-5 quality players through the regional U23 tournament to support the team taking part in the upcoming 31st SEA Games held in Việt Nam.

The win helped Việt Nam temporarily go top of Group C at the expense of Thailand. Just a draw against them in the next game on February 22 will send Việt Nam through.

Coach Nam said: "I watched the game between Thailand and Singapore, in which Thailand won 3-1. I appreciate the gameplay of Thailand, they coordinate well. Thailand’s tactics used in this match were similar to Việt Nam. I think the probability of winning the upcoming match is divided equally between the two teams. The team that plays with good spirits, high determination and flexible coordination will win.”

The next match between Việt Nam and Thailand will take place at 7 pm on February 22 and will be broadcast live on channels of FPT Play, VTV5 and VTV6. VNS