Vietnam U23 hopeful of first win against Malaysia at AFC U23 Asian Cup

The Vietnamese U23 national football team are aiming to record a comfortable victory over their Malaysian rivals to get their first win under new head coach Gong Oh-kyun and book a place in the next round of the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup.

Vietnam enjoyed a good start to the tournament after drawing 2-2 against Thailand on June 2 before holding a strong Republic of Korea team to 1-1 draw on June 5, respectively.

Due to these results, the Vietnamese team must defeat Malaysia and win three points in the match on June 8. Elsewhere, the result of the match between Thailand and the Republic of Korea which will be played at the same time will have a big impact on deciding which teams progress to the next round.

Most notably, Vietnam go into the game against Malaysia at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Uzbekistan on June 8 with a better head-to-head record.

Indeed, Malaysia have lost six consecutive matches to Vietnam over the past decade.

Most recently at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), the country recoded a 1-0 victory over the Malaysian team led by coach Brad Maloney in the semi-final round.

So far at the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup, Malaysia have suffered two heavy defeats, with a 4-1 loss against the Republic of Korea and a 3-0 drubbing against Thailand.

Moving forward, the aim of the Vietnamese team is to attack and triumph against Malaysia who have already been eliminated after losing their first two matches.

The fixture will be held at 8 p.m. on June 8 (Vietnam time) and will also provide a chance for coach Gong to clearly demonstrate the new attacking football philosophy that he wants to implement.

(Source:VOV)