Japanese football magazine Qoly recently ran a detailed analysis of Vietnam’s U23 footbal team, in which it praised all the 20 players and warned the Japanese side to stay prudent.

More experience, they are arch-rival of Japan in Group D, it wrote, highlighting the Vietnamese team’s best performance, the runners-up at the Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship earlier this year.

The team sets an ambitious target at the table, and the Japanese side should never underestimate their power, Qoly said.

Praising talents of Xuan Truong and Cong Phuong, the magazine underlined that Truong had considerable experience in the KLeague, and he has been popular for his wonderful tactics while Phuong has grabbed attention of both domestic and international media.

Vietnam, together with Japan, will enter the next round after beating Nepal 2-0 at the 2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) in Indonesia on August 16. Japan defeated Pakistan 4-0 in an earlier match on the same day.

If the match between Vietnam and Japan ends in a draw in August 19, they will enter penalty shoot-out to determine who will be at the top of Group D.

The men’s football event will finish on September 1, which features 25 teams in two groups of five and four groups of four. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-place teams will advance to the second round.

Having a landslide victory over Nepal to earn a ticket to the next round, the Vietnam Olympic football team becomes the first team fulfilling target at the ASIAD 2018.

VNA/VNP