Vietnam U23 won an impressive victory in the opening match of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship on April 17, defeating Kuwait U23 with a score of 3-1. Bui Vi Hao's brace and Nguyen Van Tung's goal brought coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team to the top of the table. Meanwhile, Kuwait U23 ranked third after the first round and must make great efforts if they want to keep their hopes of advancing.

Coach Emilio Peixe of U.23 Kuwait commented: "We did not play well in the second half, when the players seemed to show signs of exhaustion. I think this is very normal because U.23 Kuwait is inexperienced in competition.

Remember, in the previous 2 times participating in the U.23 Asian finals, U.23 Kuwait played 6 matches, but only drew 1 match, and lost 5. U.23 Kuwait needs to try harder in the next 2 matches, when we will meet 2 very strong opponents like U.23 Uzbekistan or U.23 Malaysia. We need to prepare more carefully and better."

Coach Peixe also highly appreciated the performance of U.23 Vietnam, when he assessed that Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan's students had prepared very carefully. "While U.23 Kuwait appeared tired, I felt that U.23 Vietnam had prepared more thoroughly physically for such matches, for tournaments like this. I hope I can help U.23 Kuwait do this. This U.23 team has a lot of potential to be promoted to the Kuwait national team. We will strive for the future of the national team, preparing very thoroughly.

Of course, when playing football, everyone wants to win. However, U.23 Kuwait must accept such experiences. We will try our best until the last day," Mr. Peixe assessed.

The U.23 Kuwait strategist added: "U.23 Kuwait will still try to prepare as we have done. The young Kuwaiti players must improve both physically and mentally. We know where we stand. Remember, U.23 Vietnam reached the final of the U.23 Asia many years ago. They are a big team.

The U.23 Vietnam players played very fiercely. They are real warriors. You have a very promising future generation. Be confident towards the future. While U.23 Vietnam has many experienced players, we do not possess that factor. As head coach, I am satisfied with the performance of my students in the overall preparation process so far. But I understand that football always needs results, needs victory."

Talking about the impressive players in U.23 Vietnam, Coach Peixe chose number 14 (Van Tung), number 10 (Nguyen Hoang) and number 4 (Duy Cuong). "They are very good players", the coach of Portuguese stars like Bruno Fernandes, Joao Cancelo... shared briefly.