Khuat Van Khang opened the scoring in the 19th minute at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Indonesia on the evening of 19/7. In the second half, center-back Hieu Minh scored twice to secure a 3-0 win for Vietnam, giving them a strong start to the tournament.

"I am happy with our first victory against a defensively solid opponent," coach Kim said in the post-match press conference. "The important thing is that we maintained a balance between defense and attack."

Coach Kim Sang-sik speaks at the press conference after Vietnam's 3-0 victory over Laos in the second round of Group B of the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2025, at Patriot Stadium, Indonesia on 19/7/2025. Photo: Hai Tu

This result puts Vietnam at the top of Group B with three points, two points ahead of Cambodia and Laos. Laos is officially eliminated, having played both their matches. Vietnam only needs a draw against Cambodia in their final match on 22/7 to secure the top spot and advance to the semifinals. However, coach Kim Sang-sik isn't taking anything for granted.

"We need to focus on the next match and not think too much about the semifinals," the South Korean coach stated. "The most important thing is to focus on ourselves and play according to our plan."

Key moments of the Vietnam 3-0 Laos match.

Vietnam has faced Cambodia once before in the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, winning 1-0 in the third-place match in 2019.

Except for 2005 when they did not participate, Vietnam has reached the semifinals in all three previous tournaments: 2019, 2022, and 2023. The team won the cup in the last two tournaments and is aiming for a hat-trick of titles.

Coach Ha Hyeok-jun speaks at the press conference after Vietnam's 3-0 victory over Laos in the second round of Group B of the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2025, at Patriot Stadium, Indonesia on 19/7/2025. Photo: Hai Tu

Meanwhile, coach Ha Hyeok-jun believed that the Lao players lacked experience and couldn't recover physically after their match against Cambodia three days prior. "We did our best and will try harder in the next tournament," coach Ha said. "Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are more developed. They are aiming for the World Cup and are stronger than the rest of Southeast Asia."

The Laos U23 coach admitted the difficulty in finding talented players due to the underdevelopment of the national league in his country. The team will strive for better results against stronger opponents, but they need to be more focused, putting in maximum effort in both defense and attack.

Hieu Luong