Nguyen Quang Hai of Vietnam (second, left) kicks a ball during an Asian U23 Championship match between Vietnam and Australia in China on January 14 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Nguyen Quang Hai’s win brought Vietnam’shistoric 1-0 victory over Australia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23Championship on January 14, and opened a door to all Group D teams competing inthe quarter-finals in Kunshan, China.
Vietnam was the first ASEANteam to win at this tournament, which is in its third edition.
Two other teams here areThailand and Malaysia. Thailand has just been eliminated after two straightlosses, while Malaysia claimed one point from a draw after two matches.
The golden boy Hai scored the only goal at the 72nd minute, makingpart of his coach Park Hang-seo’s expectation to make miracles come true.
Prior to the tournament, Park said he wanted to surprise peoplewith his Vietnamese players. And they are on the way to proving it.
Last week, Hai scored the opener for Vietnam in their first matchof the tournament. Despite losing 1-2 to 2016 championship runners-up theRepublic of Korea, Vietnam really shocked not only local experts, but alsointernational trainers.
The victory was even an earthquake for the whole continent, asAustralian media described their loss as a national disaster, while Thainewspapers, such as Thai Rath, Siam Sports and Bangkok Post,considered it a big shock.
AFC President Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa sent his congratulation tothe team after the match, saying he was proud of Vietnam’s result and hoped theteam would see more success.
Despite being an underdogin the group, Vietnam was really confident when starting their second match.
It was the Vietnameseplayers who had a better situation with more opportunities, although theyoccupied only one third of the ball possession against the Olyroos, who hadeight chances from the rosters that beat Syria 3-1 last week.
Nguyen Cong Phuong and histeammates wasted several chances in the first half.
Alex Gersbach’s error sawhim give possession to Phuong, and only the intervention of Ruon Tongyik deniedthe 22-year-old from scoring the opener at the 33rd minute.
Phuong caused more concernin the Australian defence soon afterwards, and with six minutes left in thehalf, Hai’s shot across goal from 25m out was saved at full stretch by Izzo.
After many chances wastedin the first half, and nearly half the time of the second half, Vietnamplayers, coaches and supporters jumped up to cheer their first Asian goal,following Hai’s deflected long-range strike.
Earlier, the ball ranaround in Australian box with several inaccurate finishes from the Vietnameseside. It went to Hai, who made a straight kick to beat goalkeeper Paul Izzo.
Australia also had their chances, but Ajdin Hrustic’s two attemptswere denied by Vietnamese keeper Bui Tien Dung.
In the second half,Gersbach’s inviting low cross from the left found Joseph Champness at the farpost and forced Dung to push the ball out for a corner.
Australia pushed for theequaliser, with substitute George Blackwood hitting the crossbar with a lateheader, but Vietnam held on to record a famous win.
"I want to dedicatethis victory to the Vietnamese people. I promised we would do somethingspecial, and this is just the start. I want to thank the players and my staff,as they did everything I asked them to do. We have one match left, andbeginning tomorrow we have to concentrate on that game,” said coach Parkat the post-match briefing.
“We always believed wecould win the game. We did not know in advance what the result would be, but wewere prepared to win. Every team has good points and, of course, today we werelucky."
Meanwhile, coach AnteMilicic of Australia congratulated Vietnam on a fantastic victory.
“For them to win a game ata tournament like this is good for their confidence. We knew what to expect, interms of the way that they set up and approached the game with their 5-4-1formation. It was similar to the way they set up against South Korea, and westruggled at times to create some clear cut chances. We were vulnerable on thebreak and we could have dealt better with those situations,” he was quoted assaying on the-afc.com.
“Towards the end we createdthree or four good chances, but the ball wouldn’t go in. So we go homedisappointed, but we’ll assess it and focus on the next game, which will be adifficult one against Korea."
On January 17, Vietnam willnext play Syria, who did just enough to keep their hopes of a place in thequarter-finals after securing a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Korea in a latematch on January 14.-VNA
Vietnam was the first ASEANteam to win at this tournament, which is in its third edition.
Two other teams here areThailand and Malaysia. Thailand has just been eliminated after two straightlosses, while Malaysia claimed one point from a draw after two matches.
The golden boy Hai scored the only goal at the 72nd minute, makingpart of his coach Park Hang-seo’s expectation to make miracles come true.
Prior to the tournament, Park said he wanted to surprise peoplewith his Vietnamese players. And they are on the way to proving it.
Last week, Hai scored the opener for Vietnam in their first matchof the tournament. Despite losing 1-2 to 2016 championship runners-up theRepublic of Korea, Vietnam really shocked not only local experts, but alsointernational trainers.
The victory was even an earthquake for the whole continent, asAustralian media described their loss as a national disaster, while Thainewspapers, such as Thai Rath, Siam Sports and Bangkok Post,considered it a big shock.
AFC President Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa sent his congratulation tothe team after the match, saying he was proud of Vietnam’s result and hoped theteam would see more success.
Despite being an underdogin the group, Vietnam was really confident when starting their second match.
It was the Vietnameseplayers who had a better situation with more opportunities, although theyoccupied only one third of the ball possession against the Olyroos, who hadeight chances from the rosters that beat Syria 3-1 last week.
Nguyen Cong Phuong and histeammates wasted several chances in the first half.
Alex Gersbach’s error sawhim give possession to Phuong, and only the intervention of Ruon Tongyik deniedthe 22-year-old from scoring the opener at the 33rd minute.
Phuong caused more concernin the Australian defence soon afterwards, and with six minutes left in thehalf, Hai’s shot across goal from 25m out was saved at full stretch by Izzo.
After many chances wastedin the first half, and nearly half the time of the second half, Vietnamplayers, coaches and supporters jumped up to cheer their first Asian goal,following Hai’s deflected long-range strike.
Earlier, the ball ranaround in Australian box with several inaccurate finishes from the Vietnameseside. It went to Hai, who made a straight kick to beat goalkeeper Paul Izzo.
Australia also had their chances, but Ajdin Hrustic’s two attemptswere denied by Vietnamese keeper Bui Tien Dung.
In the second half,Gersbach’s inviting low cross from the left found Joseph Champness at the farpost and forced Dung to push the ball out for a corner.
Australia pushed for theequaliser, with substitute George Blackwood hitting the crossbar with a lateheader, but Vietnam held on to record a famous win.
"I want to dedicatethis victory to the Vietnamese people. I promised we would do somethingspecial, and this is just the start. I want to thank the players and my staff,as they did everything I asked them to do. We have one match left, andbeginning tomorrow we have to concentrate on that game,” said coach Parkat the post-match briefing.
“We always believed wecould win the game. We did not know in advance what the result would be, but wewere prepared to win. Every team has good points and, of course, today we werelucky."
Meanwhile, coach AnteMilicic of Australia congratulated Vietnam on a fantastic victory.
“For them to win a game ata tournament like this is good for their confidence. We knew what to expect, interms of the way that they set up and approached the game with their 5-4-1formation. It was similar to the way they set up against South Korea, and westruggled at times to create some clear cut chances. We were vulnerable on thebreak and we could have dealt better with those situations,” he was quoted assaying on the-afc.com.
“Towards the end we createdthree or four good chances, but the ball wouldn’t go in. So we go homedisappointed, but we’ll assess it and focus on the next game, which will be adifficult one against Korea."
On January 17, Vietnam willnext play Syria, who did just enough to keep their hopes of a place in thequarter-finals after securing a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Korea in a latematch on January 14.-VNA
VNA
