U20 Vietnam Finalizes Squad: The Japanese Coach's Defensive Puzzle and Letters from the Viet Tri Stands

Nagoya still echoes every time I touch the old microphone. But this morning, when I read that U20 Vietnam had finalized their 23-man squad for the U20 Asian Qualifiers, I didn't hear the echo from the land of cherry blossoms. I heard my own heart beating to the rhythm of a stand not yet opened, where Viet Tri, Phu Tho will become the battleground of young dreams. I keep those fourteen seconds like a broken gem. Fourteen seconds of the 2026 World Cup, when Japan was overturned by Belgium in an instant. I cried for millions in the commentary booth. But today, looking at the U20 Vietnam squad list, I see a different pain being prepared to transform into strength. Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi, a Japanese man, is bringing a philosophy I have witnessed over 52 years of watching football: defense is not passivity, but a way to keep dreams alive longer. The six friendlies in Japan are not just matches. They are six letters sent before the real battle begins. I have lived in Nagoya long enough to understand that the Japanese never do anything without purpose. This training trip is not simply about adapting to higher intensity. It is a tactical surgery, where Ikeuchi can "evaluate players and perfect the playing style" — the way one dissects every pass before believing in it. The defensive puzzle is what I read from this squad list. Dinh Quang Kiet, the ASEAN Championship winner, has been added to the backline. This is not an ordinary reinforcement. This is a declaration: U20 Vietnam will not play purely emotional football. They will play football that knows who they are, knows what they need. I have seen too many Southeast Asian youth teams crumble trying to attack against physically stronger opponents. Iran, the final opponent in the group, is a wall of physicality. North Korea, the opening opponent, is a machine of discipline. Palestine, the unknown, can always surprise. I believe every touch of the ball has a beating heart. And the heart of U20 Vietnam is now beating to a defensive rhythm. Nguyen Le Phat, who has played for the national team and won a bronze at the U23 Asian Cup, has been brought back to lead the midfield. His presence is not just about technique. It is about tempo. A player who has played at a higher level will not be swept away by the U20 rhythm. He will create his own rhythm. And in a group stage with only three matches in seven days, rhythm is the ultimate weapon. But I must be direct: the attack is the biggest uncertainty. The article says "trust is placed in the strikers to score goals." This phrasing reminds me of the letters I read on the radio during the 2026 pandemic, when the stands were empty and people sent their feelings through paper and ink. Trust is a beautiful thing, but it doesn't score goals. Six strikers were called up, but none have the pedigree of Le Phat or Quang Kiet. This is the weakness opponents will exploit. Iran will press aggressively, North Korea will defend in numbers, and Palestine will play rough football. The pitch doesn't need poets, but poets need the pitch. And I, an old man of 68 in Nagoya, need to see how Ikeuchi solves this puzzle. Will he choose a defensive counter-attacking style against Iran? Will he dare to let Le Phat play more freely against North Korea? I don't have the answers. But I have a belief: a team that knows its weaknesses, and dares to admit them, will survive longer than a team that pretends to be strong everywhere. Letters sent to empty stands, football reads every line. And the Viet Tri stand will not be empty. There will be cheers, there will be flags, there will be young hearts beating in unison. But I want to send a personal letter to the U20 Vietnam players: don't fear expectation. Fear shallowness. Play as if every touch is the last line of a long poem. And remember, even if you lose, you can still make the nation proud — if you played with all your heart. Nearly seven decades of watching football, I still learn how the ball rolls every day. And today, I learned that defense is not a lack of courage. Defense is a way to keep the dream alive until the final minute. The match against North Korea on August 31 will be the first test. The match against Iran on September 6 will be the defining test. But first, let me say this: I believe in this generation. I believe in a Japanese coach teaching Vietnamese football how to defend as an art. And I believe that, whatever the result, these young men have written a story worth telling. Goals on the pitch and quick clicks in esports light the same fire. But nothing can replace the moment a young Vietnamese striker heads the ball into the net against Iran, in the roar of the Viet Tri stand. That is the moment I wait for. That is the moment I will store in my archive, as I stored the fourteen seconds of Japan-Belgium. And when I watch it again, I won't look at the score. I will look into the eyes of the players. Because in those eyes, I will see the answer to the question I have pursued all my life: is football truly an oral epic, or just a game of chance? I have had the answer for a long time. Football is an epic. And U20 Vietnam, with this 23-man squad, is preparing to write a new chapter. That chapter may not have a happy ending. But it will have memorable verses. And I, an old man sitting in Nagoya, will listen to every verse through my old microphone, and pass them on to future generations, as I have done for 52 years. People buy players, but I buy back the stories that were sold. And the story of U20 Vietnam at the 2027 U20 Asian Qualifiers is a story I will keep forever. Not because it will surely succeed. But because it is honest. It is honest in how they admit their defensive weaknesses, honest in how they sought a Japanese coach to learn how to defend, and honest in how they place trust in young strikers who have proven nothing yet. That honesty, in modern football, is the most precious thing. Empty stands, but hearts are not empty. And the Viet Tri stand will not be empty. It will be full of hearts beating in unison. I won't be there, but I will listen through the radio, through tweets, through letters from fans. And I will write about them, as I wrote about the empty stands during the pandemic, with all the respect a storyteller gives to true stories. Let me end with a question, not a summary: do we have the courage to believe that defense is also a form of romance? Do we have the patience to wait for a goal that comes from solidity, rather than from impulse? U20 Vietnam, under the hand of Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi, is trying to answer that question. And I, a man who has lived through too many matches, too many broken dreams, too many nameless victories, can only say: I am listening. And I believe.