Vietnamese players celebrate their win against Cambodia on September 5 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Nguyen Quang Hai scored his first goalfor the national team in Vietnam’s 2-1 win over Cambodia in their third Group Cmatch of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup qualification in PhnomPenh on September 5.
The victory ended Vietnam’s winless streak that saw the teamfinishing with draw and loss results in five matches in a row.
Vietnam said goodbye to their head coach Nguyen Huu Thangafter their unexpected defeat at the 29th SEA Games last month.
The team was being managed by acting coach Mai DucChung.
It took the visiting side just four minutes to find the opener at theOlympic Stadium, which lured nearly 50,000 spectators, mostof whom were home supporters.
Midfielder Nguyen Van Quyet netted a close low shotinto the far corner of goalkeeper Sou Yaty, who dived to hisright but failed to block the ball.
However, the early goal did not help Vietnam have acomfortable game against the hosts who created a lot of difficulties for theirrivals in the remaining time.
Cambodia needed only six minutes to level thescore, which was achieved by their very own ’Messi’ ChanVathanaka.
Two Cambodians worked together in the box, which was watchedby six Vietnamese players and goalie Dang Van Lam.
Vathanaka sent his teammate’s pass to Lam’s right corner and madehis 12th goal for the national team.
After their goal, the Cambodians attacked strongly. Theygave no chance to Vietnam. Well-known Vietnamese striker NguyenCong Phuong was unable to reach his peak and was replaced in thesecond half.
Chung, who will return to work with the national women’sfootball team after this match, made several changes in the secondhalf, including an unexpected replacement of Vu Minh Tuan.
Tuan suffered a twisted ankle and had to leave thefield, giving up his post to 19-year-old Hai, who madeit 2-1 with an accurate header that could not be stopped, although he wasonly 1.68m, one of the shortest players for Vietnam.
"It was a difficult match for Vietnam, as wehave never played on artificial grass before and had few daysto become familiar with it. Tonight, we were against manyCambodian supporters," said Chung at the post-match newsbriefing.
"Cambodias are different now. They are much strongerthan before. They created many challenges for us, but wefound their weaknesses. Their left-wing defender often took partin the attacks, but they returned home slowly. Our firstgoal was made by exploiting this opportunity. Their mid-field was notstrong enough, only two against Vietnam’s five, so they could not resistour attacks," he said.
"Vietnam were also not good today, but look at theoverall result, we netted a win; it is what we need," he added.
With the win, Vietnam improved their winning record overCambodia to six matches. Vietnam have never lost to Cambodia to date.
They jumped to the top position in the groupwith five points after three matches. Jordan are second with four pointsbut have played only two games. Theywill play Afghanistan in the next match. Cambodia are thirdwith three points.
Vietnam will host Cambodia in their second leg match on October 10at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium.-VNA
VNA
