Phu Tho Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi was disappointed when Vietnam lost the second match in Group C of the 2027 Asian U20 qualifying round, despite creating many opportunities against Palestine.
At Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho on the evening of September 3, Vietnam faced Palestine with the mindset of having to win, after losing 0-3 to North Korea in the opening round. Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi said the players were mentally prepared to enter the match with a better mindset. He assessed that the home team's performance was quite good, but the core problem was that their ability to take advantage of opportunities had not improved.
"It felt like we didn't really get into the rhythm right from the first half. The positive point was creating many goal threats in the second half," coach Ikeuchi said after the 1-2 loss to Palestine. "The inability to convert opportunities into goals is the cause of failure. That is the nature of football."
Palestine has a group of players practicing in Europe, Brazil and the US, but has to fend off Vietnam's attacks most of the time. They were conceded once in the 66th minute, after a strong header from midfielder Nguyen Quoc Khanh caused the ball to bounce off the bar and hit goalkeeper Diogosamara Lourenco into the net. Vietnam also had four opportunities to shoot from a favorable position but missed the goal, missed a chance to face the Palestinian goalkeeper, and hit the post and crossbar twice.
However, the West Asian representative is better at taking advantage of opportunities. In the 34th minute, Laieth Tayem acted calmly in the penalty area before scoring to open the score. In the 83rd minute, Hamade pressed the ball past goalkeeper Phan Dinh Bach to end the counterattack and attack in the middle, and seal a 2-1 victory. "Palestine is truly a strong opponent. Strong defense when necessary and effective counterattack," coach Ikeuchi said. "That is also Vietnam's shortcoming in not having strong defense capabilities in times of need."
The Japanese military leader also appreciated the support from the fans. Even though they lost heavily to North Korea, the audience still came to the stadium in large numbers to fuel the fire in the match against Palestine. They cheered enthusiastically from start to finish, even though the results were not as expected. "I feel sorry for Vietnamese fans in general, and the audience present here," said the coach born in 1961. "However, the tournament is not over yet. We will try our best until the last moment to repay everyone's love, and send our most sincere gratitude."
Coach Ikeuchi is receiving a lot of criticism from fans for his poor results with the U19 and U20 teams, starting with stopping in the U19 Southeast Asia 2026 group stage. In this qualifying round, the team continues to lack character and even faces the risk of being relegated if it finishes at the bottom of Group C.
This result puts Vietnam at the bottom of Group C without any points. Palestine and Iran ranked first with 3 points, while North Korea led with 6 points.
In the final round on September 6, Vietnam will face Iran. If they win, the home team of Group C will definitely escape the bottom position. Even if they defeat Iran with a suitable score and at the same time Palestine loses to North Korea, Vietnam will have a chance to finish second in the group. If they draw or lose, the team will drop to the development group in the next tournament. This means that the next batch of players will not be able to participate in the 2029 Asian U20 qualifiers, but instead must play to compete for the 2031 U20 Asian qualifiers.
Match schedule and results of Group C U20 Asian qualifier 2027
Battle Date and Time
August 31, 16:00 Iran 2-1 Palestine
19:00 Vietnam 0-3 North Korea
September 3, 16:00 North Korea 2-1 Iran
19:00 Vietnam 1-2 Palestine
September 6, 16:00 North Korea - Palestine
19:00 Vietnam - Iran
Table C hierarchy
Second Team Match Win Draw Loss Points
1 North Korea 2 2 0 0 6
2 Iran 2 1 0 1 3
3 Palestine 2 1 0 1 3
4 Vietnam 2 0 0 2 0
