Vietnamese U17 defender makes surprising statement after draw with Indonesia

Defender Dang Khoa affirms that unity enabled Vietnam U17 to advance to the Southeast Asian U17 semifinals by topping the group.

On the evening of April 19th, the Vietnam U17 and Indonesia U17 teams had a dramatic draw at Gelora Delta Stadium. With this result, Coach Roland's squad officially secured a place in the semifinals as group winners, while host Indonesia was eliminated early because in the simultaneous match, Malaysia U17 achieved a 2-0 victory over Timor-Leste.

In this match, Indonesia U17 surprised Vietnam by opting to play deep, concentrating numbers in their own half and prioritizing defense despite needing a win. Sharing after the game, defender Nguyen Huynh Dang Khoa admitted this was a difficult match for Vietnam U17.

“I felt the match today was very challenging for the whole team, but we knew how to control the game,” Dang Khoa stated. The captain of Vietnam U17 also confirmed that the players performed well by maintaining an active game flow throughout the match, alongside the spirit of unity on the field.

"We are united and our passion is to support each other, so the match became easier thanks to that cooperation," Dang Khoa said.

For his part, Coach Cristiano Roland also could not hide his surprise that the host team chose to play defensively:

“We prepared to handle pressing pressure from Indonesia. We discussed this thoroughly with the players. But I was somewhat surprised to see them just waiting for us. I thought they might change in the second half, but they continued playing that way. Of course they also had some opportunities, but I was still quite surprised,”Coach Roland shared at the post-match press conference.

In the semifinal match scheduled at 7:30 PM on April 22nd, Vietnam U17 will face the reigning champion Australia U17.