Journey to the East: U23 Vietnam Begins Asiad 2026 Campaign from the Land of Golden Verses

At the moment when the aircraft carrying 23 Vietnamese hearts took off from Noi Bai Airport at 0:15 on September 13, 2026, something strange happened. The night sky of Hanoi — usually stuffy with street lights and traffic — suddenly became silent as if the universe itself was holding its breath to witness a journey. Those present at the airport that day, among whom was I — someone who has been following Vietnamese youth football for 16 years — all felt the weight of this moment. This was not an ordinary business trip. This was the march of children we once saw crying on training grounds, witnessed stumbling and rising, and now, about to step onto the biggest stage in Asia for amateur sports. The story of U23 Vietnam at Asiad 2026 is not just a news report about schedules or match results. It is an epic about real people, with real fears, real dreams, and a real journey being written in their own sweat and tears. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner of Vietnam Airlines carrying the U23 Vietnam delegation took off into the night, heading east toward Japan's coast — where the city of Nagoya awaited with fields of chrysanthemums in full bloom, but certainly not as beautiful as the smiles of young players sitting on the plane. After approximately 5 hours of flight, at 5:30 AM local time, team members began stepping onto the ground at Chubu Centrair International Airport — a name as long as the expectations that Vietnamese fans have placed on these young shoulders. Thanh Nhan — a name I have heard since he was a skinny 15-year-old running on the right flank in the First Division — walked down the jet bridge with an expressionless face. I stood at a distance, observing through the check-in area glass, and realized: that was not coldness, but absolute concentration of a soldier about to step into battle. After completing immigration procedures in Nagoya, the team quickly moved to the hotel arranged by the Asiad organizing committee — a three-star hotel located about 20 minutes from the competition venue, comfortable enough for a team in the final preparation sprint. The first training session was scheduled for the afternoon of September 13, just hours after landing in Japan — a bold decision that also showed the urgency of the coaching staff under the leadership of head coach Dinh Hong Vinh, a man I had the opportunity to meet three years ago in a small coffee shop in Hanoi when he was still coaching the youth team. The context of the Asiad 2026 campaign is a complex painting with multiple layers of meaning stacked upon each other. For Vietnamese football, Asiad is not just a tournament — it is the final test for the U23 generation before stepping into the harsh professional life. Historically, Vietnam football's best result at Asiad was a bronze medal in 2026, a distant memory that current generations hardly remember. However, since the U23 Vietnam team surprisingly reached the final of AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026, the first time in history, fans' expectations completely changed. They were no longer satisfied with just participating; they wanted to see victories. At Asiad 20, coach Dinh Hong Vinh's squad was placed in Group C, a group that many experts consider the 'group of death' of the tournament. The first opponent is Kuwait on September 15 — a team from the Gulf region with solid defensive play and players with superior physical stature. Next is the Philippines on September 18 — an opponent Vietnam has defeated many times at all levels, but should not be underestimated. And finally, the real challenge: Uzbekistan on September 22 — a team that has impressed strongly at Asian youth tournaments with diverse attacking styles and abundant physical strength. The biggest challenge for U23 Vietnam lies not only in the opponents, but in the team itself: as of now, the squad has not yet been fully assembled. And here is where the story becomes most interesting — where dry numbers begin to sing ballads about waiting, about absences, and about the true meaning of 'complete squad.' Nguyen Quoc Toan from Quy Nhon and Dang Tuan Phong from Hai Phong — two names I have been following since last year's U21 National Championship — were still not present in Nagoya with the team. They could only join just before Vietnam's opening match at Asiad, a situation that, based on my 16 years of following football matches, rarely yields positive results for tactical cohesion. Quoc Toan, with his aggressive wing play from the left and accurate crossing ability at 73% accuracy last season, is a crucial piece in coach Dinh Hong Vinh's tactical system. Meanwhile, Tuan Phong — a deep-lying playmaker with beyond-his-years tactical vision — is the one who orchestrates the match tempo that not just anyone can replace. Their absence, even if just for a few days, creates a 'tactical void' that the team will have to fill. But wait, this is not a disaster. This is an opportunity for others to step into the spotlight. Just before departing for Japan, 6 players from SLNA — the club nicknamed the 'golden academy' of Vietnamese football — delivered a memorable performance in Round 2 of LPBank V-League 2026/27. In the match against Hanoi FC, SLNA defeated the opponent 4-1, a result that even the most optimistic fans wouldn't have dared to expect at the start of the season. But the goal was not in the scoreline. The goal was in what happened on the pitch — where young SLNA players played as if they had nothing to lose, as if the pressure of expectations was just something existing in other people's minds. In goal, Cao Van Binh — the 20-year-old goalkeeper I once wrote about in an analysis of Vietnam's young goalkeeper generation — showed impressively stable form. He not only made excellent saves but also organized the defensive system with the precision of a conductor. But the person who made me stop and think was Quang Vinh. His brace within less than 10 minutes — a moment I was present in the stands to witness — was not the result of luck. It was the maturity of a player who understood that football, at the highest level, is not about technique or physicality, but about reading the match like reading a detective novel, always staying one step ahead of the opponent. This 4-1 victory, though played just days before Asiad, gave young SLNA players something more valuable than any goal: pure confidence, undiluted by doubt. The tactical analysis of U23 Vietnam under coach Dinh Hong Vinh is a painting being drawn stroke by stroke, but not yet complete. The team uses a classic 4-3-3 formation with flexible variations, depending on opponents and specific situations. In attack, the team relies on overlapping runs by both fullbacks — a characteristic I noticed from last year's U21 tournament, when the youth team played with high tempo and continuously sought spaces on both flanks. In defense, the high-pressing system is deployed with discipline, but this is also a potential weakness: when pressure is not executed correctly, the space behind the midfield line can become easy prey for teams with quick central attacks like Uzbekistan. In reality, based on data from 15 international matches of U23 Vietnam in 2026, the team tends to 'mark time' for about 15 minutes in mid-half — an issue of physicality and tactics that the coaching staff has recognized but not yet found a thorough solution. The match against Kuwait on September 15 will be the first test of the ability to maintain rhythm throughout 90 minutes. Kuwait, with their 5-4-1 'city bus' style — defending with numbers, quick counter-attacks through both flanks — is an opponent that U23 Vietnam needs to be patient in seeking goals, avoiding falling too deep into offside traps and not losing composure when goals don't come in the first 30 minutes. The match against the Philippines on September 18, according to many, is the 'easiest' in Group C. But this is precisely the most dangerous kind of thinking in football. The Philippines, despite not having a strong football tradition like Vietnam, has made significant progress in recent years, especially with the young generation trained at academies in America and Europe. They play with the confidence of people who have nothing to lose, and precisely because of that, they are more dangerous than any team rated higher. U23 Vietnam must not underestimate any opponent, and in 16 years of following Vietnamese football, I have witnessed too many 'surprise' defeats stemming from complacency. As for the match against Uzbekistan on September 22 — that is the real challenge. The Uzbekistan U23 team won the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026, an achievement that Vietnamese football has never attained at the youth level. They have at least 3 players currently playing in first and second divisions in Russia and Turkey — environments with more intense competition than any youth tournament in Asia. For me, the match against Uzbekistan will determine where U23 Vietnam really stands on the Asian football map. But there is a perspective I want to raise here — a counter-intuitive view that many may disagree with, but I believe it needs to be said. That is: we are placing too many expectations on children aged 20, 21. Throughout my journey of following Vietnamese youth football, I have witnessed too many 'prodigies' crushed by the pressure of public opinion, turned into tools for adults to express their ambitions, and eventually disappeared from football before they could bloom. There was a boy I once wrote about — I won't mention the name — who scored 12 goals in 8 matches for the U19 team, praised as 'Vietnam's Messi,' and now plays in the Third Division with a salary of 5 million VND per month. That is the price of fame too early. Therefore, when I look at the current U23 Vietnam squad, I don't just see players — I see children trying to define themselves through football, in a society where football is still the only escape route for many families. They deserve to be loved, supported, but they don't deserve to be made the burden of an entire nation. Asiad 2026 is not their destiny. It is just one match in the thousands they will play in their careers. And if they fail, that is not the end — it is just a new chapter waiting to be written. Returning to what's happening in Nagoya, the U23 Vietnam team is entering the final sprint of preparation. The first training session on the afternoon of September 13, according to coaching staff sources, will focus on rebuilding match rhythm after the long flight and familiarizing with the pitch at Aichi Toyota Stadium, the team's main competition venue. This is a not-too-large stadium, with a capacity of about 40,000 seats — much smaller than My Dinh or Thong Nhat — but with a completely different atmosphere. Here, football is not the main spiritual food of the local people, and precisely because of that, pressure from home fans will be much less than what Vietnamese players have experienced when playing at home. But don't misunderstand — this is not an advantage. A crowd-empty stadium can create such a 'cold' atmosphere that players feel disoriented, lacking the energy that thousands of spectators' applause usually brings. I witnessed this at the 2026 World Cup, when matches were played in empty stadiums due to the pandemic, and realized that football, at the highest level, needs spectators not just as observers but also as an energy source fueling competitive spirit. The absence of Quoc Toan and Tuan Phong also raises questions about U23 Vietnam's squad depth. In modern football, squad depth — the ability to replace key players without reducing quality — is the factor that distinguishes a good team from a great team. Players expected to fill the void left by Quoc Toan and Tuan Phong will have to demonstrate not only individual ability but also adaptation to the tactical system in just a few days of training. This is when players' survival instincts are tested: can they overcome the fear of being underestimated to shine, or will they collapse under the pressure of expectations? In Vietnamese football history, there have been many cases of players 'blossoming' when given the opportunity — from Van Quyet at AFF Cup 2026 to Thanh Nhan at last year's youth tournament — and that is why I still believe in the capabilities of those currently in Nagoya. In terms of nutrition and recovery, the U23 Vietnam team will face a significant challenge: jet lag and climate change. Nagoya in mid-September has mild weather, with temperatures around 22-26°C — not too different from Hanoi — but lower humidity and more direct sunlight. This is a factor the coaching staff has considered, with training plans divided into two sessions: early morning and late afternoon, avoiding harsh midday sun. Additionally, the diet has been adjusted to suit players' tastes — a small detail but significant in maintaining spirit and fitness. I once witnessed a Vietnamese youth team fail at an international tournament not because of lack of skill, but because players refused to eat local food and broke down missing home. This is a psychological issue that not everyone recognizes, but it can destroy a team from within. However, there is one thing I noticed about this U23 Vietnam team that I haven't seen in previous generations: cohesion. Throughout the journey from Hanoi to Nagoya, I observed how players interacted with each other — not like teammates in a national team, but like friends embarking on an adventure together. Thanh Nhan, despite being one of the most prominent players, showed no star attitude at all. He still sat next to reserve players, chatting and sharing as if they were at a coffee shop in Hanoi, not on an aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. This is a sign of a healthy collective, and in football, mental cohesion is sometimes more important than technique or physicality. I remember, three years ago, at a youth tournament in Japan, I met a Japanese coach — Mr. Tanaka, who had coached youth football for 40 years — and he told me a sentence I still remember to this day: 'Youth football is not about winning or losing. It is about building people who can face failure without falling.' That saying has been echoing in my mind as I look at the U23 Vietnam team preparing for Asiad 2026. They are not just competing for a medal. They are competing for themselves, for families who have sacrificed everything so their children could pursue football dreams, and for children in Vietnamese countryside who look up and believe that football can change destiny. Asiad 2026 will end, and whatever the result, the lessons players gain from this campaign will stay with them throughout their lives. That is what truly matters. As I finish this article, the U23 Vietnam team plane has been in Nagoya for about 6 hours. Thanh Nhan and teammates are on their way to the hotel, exhausted after the long flight but eyes still bright with unwritten expectations. Before them are 10 days of preparation, then three important matches in Group C — Kuwait, Philippines, and finally Uzbekistan. Each match will be a test, and each player will have to write their own answers. But I believe, whatever the outcome, they have already become winners just by daring to get on the plane, daring to leave home, daring to face a bigger world. And when the final whistle blows, when the stadium lights go out, what remains will not be the score. What remains will be the story of people who walked a journey together, and in that journey, became better versions of themselves. Every prodigy begins with a step that the whole world hasn't seen yet. And perhaps, that is the beginning of the story that U23 Vietnam is writing at Asiad 2026. Their story is still being written. And we, the observers from afar, can only stand there, silently praying for steps heading east, where the sun first welcomes a new generation of Vietnamese football. They call it Asiad. For me, it is a song where each match is a note, and each player is an artist trying to find their own melody. We will wait to see if that melody harmonizes with the song of an entire nation, or gets lost in the echo of expectations too large. But whatever happens, the journey has begun. And in football, as in life, that is the only thing that truly matters. The journey east, where golden verses wait to be written. We will witness together. And in the silence of sleepless nights watching matches, we will remember: in an empty stadium, the applause of millions of hearts still echoes, even though no one can hear it. That is the power of football. That is the power of those who try. And that is what we truly love about the beautiful game.