Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam still have a chance to advance to the knockout stage at the Asian Cup 2019 if they win three points against Yemen in the last match of the group stage and score as many goals as possible.
So far, 10 teams have made their entry to the next round, which are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, China, the Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan and Uzbekistan.
At this tournament, the number of participating teams has been expanded to 24 from 16, and a new format has been applied, under which four third-placed teams can enter the round of 16 besides the first and second best teams in each group.
At present, the Vietnamese team are not among the best four third-place finishers, ranking fifth among six.
Vietnam have not gained any points after two matches, as they lost 2-3 to Iraq in their first match of Group D in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 on January 8, and suffered a 0-2 defeat to Iran on January 12.
However, the chance is still available for the Golden Stars if they win over Yemen with high scores at the final Group D match slated for 20:00 (UAE time) on January 16.-VNA
VNA