2023 AFC U20 Asian Cup finals: AFC praises Vietnam’s victory against Australia

A screenshot of the article on AFC website.

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s March 1 triumph at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U20 Asian Cup finals gives them an early boost while the rivals Australia will have to bounce back in their remaining matches to stand a chance of advancing to the knockout stage, said an article published on the AFC’s official site.

According to the article, Australia started brightly in the opening minute but Vietnam were able to contain the threat. 

“Despite having to defend deep, Vietnam scored against the run of play in the sixth minute when Khuat Van Khang released Quoc Viet, who burst through the Australian defence before finding the space to slot home the opener,” it added.

The AFC also posted a video capturing Viet’s goal in a tweet, praising him as “a strike worthy enough to win any match”.

“Vietnam open their #AFCU20 campaign in style with an impressive victory at the Istiqlol Stadium!” it tweeted earlier.

With this result, Vietnam claimed three precious points in the race for the top two spots to qualify for the quarterfinals, and will go through if they beat Qatar U20s on March 4.

Vietnam are in Group B together with Iran, Australia, and Qatar in the tournament's finals. Sixteen squads are competing in the tournament, namely Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, Jordan, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Oman, Tajikistan, Iran, Australia, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, China, Iraq, and Syria.

Among Vietnam's rivals in Group B, Qatar won the tournament in 2014, Iran triumphed four times (in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976), while Australia were the runners-up in 2010./.

VNA