Don't Rush to Praise U23 Vietnam's Attack: 71% of Goals Come from Set Pieces, an Empire Built on Sand

Kazakhstan, the stadium is noisy with cheers, but I only stare at my laptop screen. The match just ended, I immediately opened the pre-prepared data table. Once again, the numbers know how to shout louder than the fans. Don't rush to look at the scoreline, look at how they move off the ball. After U23 Vietnam's victory in the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, a wave of praise flooded social media. Major sports outlets simultaneously published articles with flashy headlines, praising the fighting spirit and attacking play of the home team. But I looked at the statistics table and realized something was being hidden. The context of this qualifying campaign is quite special. U23 Vietnam was placed in Group A alongside U23 Myanmar, U23 Guam, and U23 Syria. In the end, our team won convincingly with 3 wins, scoring 12 goals and conceding only 1. On the surface, this is a perfect campaign. All analyses focused on the attacking strength of the red-shirted team with beautiful combinations. But when I dig into the detailed data, a different picture emerges. Of the 12 goals scored in the qualifiers, up to 8 came from set pieces: corners, free kicks, and penalties. That is 66.7% of the total goals. If we count goals from aerial balls after set-piece situations, this number could reach 9 goals, equivalent to 75%. An empire doesn't fall in one night; it falls from the moment it believes it is an empire. The issue is not about scoring from set pieces – that's an important skill. The issue is that when facing teams with well-organized defenses like U23 South Korea, U23 Japan, or U23 Uzbekistan in the finals, they won't easily give us dangerous corners or free kicks. Looking at how U23 Vietnam deployed the ball in recent matches, I noticed an increasing dependence on wing play. Full-backs frequently pushed forward, but their crosses had low accuracy. When unable to cross, they passed back to the center-back and started over. This creates a vicious cycle: lots of ball possession but no clear chances created from natural play. Statistics show that in the match against U23 Syria – the strongest opponent in the group – U23 Vietnam only created 3 genuine chances from open play inside the box. Both goals in this match came from a penalty and a corner. This shows that when facing a team with good physicality and disciplined defensive organization, our ability to create breakthroughs from combination play is significantly limited. Not running enough, not passing accurately, losing is correct. But here, the problem is not a lack of effort. U23 Vietnam players ran a lot, with an average total distance of 112km per match – an impressive number. But distance covered and sprint counts are packaged as effort metrics, yet ineffective running also produces pretty numbers. I see too many purposeless runs, too many safe backward passes instead of penetrating passes. Comparing with the U23 Vietnam squad at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou, we can see a clear difference. That year's squad, under coach Park Hang-seo, didn't rely only on set pieces but also had direct attacking moves with high speed. Players like Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Cong Phuong often made individual breakthroughs, creating differences in big matches. I could be wrong, but I believe the problem is not a lack of talent. The current U23 Vietnam generation has good individual technique, but they are confined within a tactical system that is too safe. Set-piece drills take up too much time in training sessions, while developing small-space combination play hasn't received adequate attention. People praise beautiful play; I look at the number of turnovers. In the match against U23 Myanmar, U23 Vietnam had 87% possession, but also lost the ball 14 times in the opponent's final third. These numbers show a lack of patience in ball progression and an over-reliance on rushed, quick attacks in the final third. At the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals, there will be no room for such mistakes. Our opponents will be teams with better physicality, faster pace, and tighter tactical organization. If U23 Vietnam doesn't improve its ability to create chances from open play, we will face extremely difficult matches. Glory is just the tip; the root is who dares to take responsibility. The coaching staff needs to look honestly at current limitations instead of being satisfied with qualifying results. Friendly matches before the finals need to be used intelligently to test new attacking options, creating diversity in play. Data doesn't create revolutions; it only exposes who is running on emotion. I hope this article will serve as a wake-up call, not to diminish the team's achievements, but for us to look realistically and prepare better for the challenges ahead. No fans in the stadium, but numbers shout louder than supporters. When everything is too stable, I start looking for cracks. And I found a crack that is widening in U23 Vietnam's attacking play. The question is: do we have the courage to fix it before it's too late?