Vietnam U23 meet South Korea U23 in the 2026 Asian Games quarter-finals: The memory of penalties and the problem named absences

On the Asian Football Confederation's bulletin board, the figure 17:30 on September 25 appears like a hyphen between two worlds. On one side stands Vietnam U23, a team that has just walked through the pain named Uzbekistan. On the other stands South Korea U23, the defending champion, assembled from 9 players currently plying their trade in Europe and 3 overage players. The quarter-final of the men's football tournament at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan will be a collision between a memory and a present that has changed completely. Let us start in January. The 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Vietnam U23 and South Korea U23 met in the third-place match. After 120 minutes ended 2-2, the two teams stepped into a penalty shootout. And then came the moment anyone who follows Vietnamese youth football remembers: the scoreline tilted 7-6 in our favour. A victory that appeared in no prediction. A night when South Korea learned that reputations do not play in anyone's place. But football does not live on memory. It lives on what happens on the pitch at 17:30 on September 25. At the 2026 Asian Games, the context has reversed. Vietnam U23 enter the tournament significantly weaker than they were eight months ago. Dinh Bac, the striker who produced the moments of difference, is absent. A number of key defenders are also missing. Coach Kim Sang Sik is not even on the bench. For any team, losing the soul of the attack and an established defensive block at the same time is a wound that is hard to heal. On the other side of the touchline, South Korea U23 make no secret of their ambition. They brought to Japan a squad reinforced by 9 new players currently playing in Europe, men who may not be headline stars but who live in a demanding football environment every week. Added to that are 3 overage players, a shield of experience for a young collective. The results have reflected the true strength: 4-1 against Qatar U23, 2-0 against Saudi Arabia U23. First place in Group D arrived as a matter of course. But the moment a team is strongest is precisely the moment they must be most careful. Captain Lee Gi Hyuk of Gangwon FC, one of the three overage players, has spoken up to warn his teammates. In The Chosun, he said: "Vietnam U23 have just suffered a defeat to Uzbekistan U23. So they will enter the quarter-final with enormous determination. Therefore, I reminded my teammates that we must not be complacent and must always maintain a high level of focus." That is the statement of a man who understands his opponent. Lee Gi Hyuk was not offering diplomatic pleasantries. He was invoking the memory of January, the memory every South Korean player wants to erase. He can play both centre-back and defensive midfielder, and in the match against Saudi Arabia U23 he bruised his shin after a collision in the 27th minute. He still finished the match. He can still take the field against Vietnam U23. A player who accepts pain in order to play is a way of showing respect for the opponent they are about to meet. But the story is not only about Lee Gi Hyuk. The South Korean press also read the danger coming from a team that has lost its stars. Sports Hankook warned: "Even though coach Kim Sang Sik is not on the Vietnam U23 bench, South Korea U23 absolutely must not be complacent." What is notable is that Sports Hankook did not stop at a generic warning. They analysed in concrete terms the characteristics that could cause South Korea U23 difficulty: "Pragmatic defending, fierce pressing in midfield and quick counter-attacks into the spaces on the flanks are Vietnam U23's weapons. Their most frightening quality is not the reputation of their players, but their enduring physical foundation and a mentality with nothing to lose." Read that last sentence again. "A mentality with nothing to lose." It is the sentence every coach facing a weaker team must respect with caution. When the pressure of winning sits on one shoulder, and the other shoulder is empty, the balance on the pitch is no longer measured by squad value. I have followed Vietnamese youth football across many cycles, and the recurring lesson is this: the matches in which our national team is underestimated are often where identity is defined most clearly. At the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup in January, no one believed in such a result. And it happened. What is interesting is that at the 2026 Asian Games, both teams enter the quarter-final with losses. Vietnam U23 have lost Dinh Bac, lost several defensive pillars, lost the presence of coach Kim Sang Sik on the bench. South Korea U23 have lost the innocence of a purely young team; they are now led by overage players who have endured great pressure. But one team's loss makes them stronger, another's loss makes them weaker. Football is always fascinating in that regard. Tactically, South Korea U23 will certainly control the ball. With 9 players from Europe and 3 overage players, they possess the ability to pass at high speed and to press immediately after losing the ball. This is the style modern South Korean football has built: not flamboyant moves, but precision and continuity. To respond, Vietnam U23 need exactly what Sports Hankook pointed out: pragmatic defending, fierce pressing in midfield, and quick counter-attacks into the spaces on the flanks. Without Dinh Bac, every counter-attack must become more collective, simpler, and harder to read. Football without a star is sometimes the most liberated football, because no one knows where the ball will go. The spaces on the flanks. Let us pause on that phrase. South Korea U23 tend to push both full-backs high when they control the ball. That is an opportunity for quick transitions. But it is also a question: does Vietnam U23 have enough subtlety to exploit it? A team that has lost defensive pillars often cannot play with the highest confidence. And that is the crux of the match. I still remember the words of a supporter I once spoke with during the Virtual Serie A broadcast series in 2026: "Virtual football is still football, it is just that no one gets hurt." At the Asian Games, no one gets hurt, but everyone feels the weight of the match. Lee Gi Hyuk bruised his shin and still played the whole match. It is a small story, but it shows that the South Koreans are preparing for a battle, not a show. So what makes the difference between January in Saudi Arabia and September in Japan? First, the squad. South Korea U23 are no longer the team Vietnam defeated in a penalty shootout. Nine European-based players bring a different level of physicality and thinking. Second, mentality. Vietnam U23 enter the match with the pain of losing to Uzbekistan, but also with the memory of January's victory. Third, the absence of coach Kim Sang Sik, the man who built the team's identity. These three factors combine to create a complex context. But I think there is one thing few people mention. In youth football, the weaker team often does not need to win to leave a mark. They need to cause difficulty. They need to make the opponent remember them. And Vietnam U23 have done that too many times for the South Koreans to take them lightly. The first 15 minutes of the quarter-final will decide a great deal. If Vietnam U23 keep a clean sheet in that period, the mentality of "nothing to lose" will shift into the mentality of "it can be done". If South Korea U23 score early, the pressure will weigh heavily on a defence that has lost many pillars. There is one detail I want to emphasise: the South Korean press are not only worried about the result. They are worried about how Vietnam U23 play. Sports Hankook called the enduring physical foundation and the mentality with nothing to lose "the most frightening thing". That is a professional assessment, not pity. And in football, serious assessment is usually the highest form of respect. As someone who has written about Italian football for years, I have witnessed small teams beat giants not through technique, but through patience. Vietnam U23 do not need to play more beautifully than South Korea U23. They need to play correctly. A disciplined defence, a midfield that contests every metre, an attack willing to run into every gap: that is a formula any team can use, regardless of squad value. But I also want to say one thing plainly. South Korea U23 are the stronger team. Not slightly stronger, but clearly stronger. In this continental arena, the gap in level is decided by where players play every week. Nine players in Europe possess something Asian youth football struggles to imitate: familiarity with high speed and intensity. Vietnam U23 will have to play at their peak to stand firm. That is not pessimism. It is the truth any professional analysis must acknowledge. But within that truth, opportunity appears. A team that is underestimated does not bear the pressure of having to win. They only have to give everything. And if a moment of fortune appears, a corner, an opponent's mistake, a long-range shot, they can turn it into something miraculous. Lee Gi Hyuk knows that. That is why he warned his teammates. That is why the South Korean press analysed so carefully. That is why the 2026 Asian Games quarter-final at 17:30 on September 25 will not merely be a step in a journey, but a test of maturity. Ultimately, youth football is not a place to predict results. It is a place where unexpected moments become heritage. In Saudi Arabia in January, we saw that. In Japan this September, a weaker team may once again write its own story, or a stronger team may prove that lessons are never forgotten twice in a single year. What I know for certain is this: when the referee blows the first whistle, Vietnam U23 will step out with one thing only, a mentality with nothing to lose. And in football, that is the most dangerous state a strong team can face.