What Strange Wind Blows Through U20 Vietnam?

Kazan, 2026. I stood in the stadium, my camera fixed on a 19-year-old tearing apart the Argentine defense with wind-like strides. That was Mbappé, and I abandoned the approved script to follow him. I didn't record the 4-3 scoreline in any caption, because I believed the real match lay in his running form, in the way he flicked his messy hair before sprinting. Now, watching U20 Vietnam play in the Asian qualifiers, I recall that Kazan wind – not for its talent, but for its absence. Context: U20 Vietnam has just suffered two consecutive defeats in the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers – a 0-3 loss to U20 North Korea and a 1-2 loss to U20 Palestine. The decisive match against U20 Iran on September 6 will determine the team's fate. A loss would eliminate U20 Vietnam from the race for a spot in the AFC U20 Asian Cup finals – a major shock for Vietnamese youth football, which has already reaped significant success at the U23 and U17 levels. The core of the problem lies in the tactical immaturity and poor game-reading ability of head coach Ikeuchi Yutaka. Former VFF official Duong Vu Lam has been blunt in his criticism: the team's coordination is not smooth, they do not play to their full potential, and most importantly – the Japanese coach seems not to understand his players. Lam emphasized that the squad possesses experienced V-League players like Dinh Quang Kiet (a 1m95 center-back), Tran Gia Bao, and Nguyen Le Phat – but they are not being utilized at their true value. Dinh Quang Kiet, with his ideal height to mark strong strikers, has seen too little playing time. Meanwhile, Coach Ikeuchi Yutaka lacks experience in handling real situations, does not solve problems skillfully, and shows signs of failing to integrate with the strong personalities of V-League players. The irony is that Vietnamese youth football has proven its strength without naturalized players. U23 Vietnam once finished third at the U23 Asian Cup, and U17 Vietnam won the Southeast Asian championship. These successes came from a deep understanding of Vietnamese player psychology by coaches like Hoang Anh Tuan or Kim Sang Sik – those who knew how to turn young players into a cohesive unit. Compared to them, Coach Ikeuchi Yutaka is creating a significant void in the dressing room, where experienced players are neglected and on-field coordination becomes disjointed. The blind spot in collective memory is blaming the lack of naturalized players. This is an easy excuse, but it conceals the truth: the problem lies in tactics, gameplay, and form – matters that fall under the responsibility of the coaching staff. Duong Vu Lam rejected this excuse, pointing out that U23 and U17 succeeded without them. This shows that the quality of Vietnam's youth training retains its value, but is being wasted by a rigid tactical framework that doesn't fit the strong personalities of domestic players. The match against U20 Iran on September 6 is not just a decisive game for qualification; it is the final test of Coach Ikeuchi Yutaka's capability. A loss would eliminate U20 Vietnam from the Asian qualifiers, and the impact would extend beyond a single tournament. It would raise major questions about the direction of youth football development, about how we choose those at the helm, and about whether we are losing the strange winds that once blew through Kazan – winds carrying the aspirations and young talents of Vietnam. Will Coach Ikeuchi Yutaka find a way to ignite the fire in his players, or will he continue to let them sink into waste? The answer will come from the pitch itself, where all words become meaningless before the reality of running strides.