On his debut for the national team, Vietnamese-German Adriano Schmidt (4) made his mark with an assist for Pham Tuan Hai to score the opening goal in the friendly against Afghanistan. (Photo: vtc.vn)The national team last played here five years ago, and the crowd at the ThongNhat Stadium was happy to finally see the Golden Star Warriors in actionagain. And Park Hang-seo’s men didn’t disappoint the home supporters.
In this friendly to prepare for the AFF Cup at the end of this year,coach Park started the game with many changes, most notably with Pham Tuan Haireplacing the familiar face of Nguyen Tien Linh up front, and the 24-year-oldplayer did not let his coach down.
With a goal in each half, Hai bagged his first-ever goals for Vietnamand is certainly on his way to following Linh’s footsteps as one of the bestVietnamese forwards, and potentially solving Park’s headache of a lack ofquality strikers.
Nguyen Quang Hai made his mark in the 32nd minute with a curving long shotfrom the right. The shot didn’t go in, but the corner kick that came fromhis shot a minute later was enough for the hosts to score the opener.
From Hai’s corner, the ball was fed to the far post for Vietnamese-GermanAdriano Schmidt who used his height to provide a brilliant headedassist to Pham Tuan Hai waiting in the middle to nod inan easy header.
It was Hai's first goal for thenational team, bringing momentum to the Hanoi FC player and his teammates forthe rest of the match. On this form, it could well be the first of many for thelively forward.
Ending the first half a goal behind, Afghanistan started to attackrapidly in the second half. But Vietnam, with a batch of key players coming in,made it even harder for the visitors to find the equaliser.
And when the men in red could no longer their physicality after severalunsuccessful attempts, Vietnam put the final nail in the coffin.
Two minutes before stoppage time,Tuan Hai completed his double with a superb solo run on the rightwing, nutmegging Afghanistan's last defender before hitting a deadly low shotthat beat goalie Ovays Azizi, sealing the win for Vietnam.
Beating their opponents 2-0 will serve as good preparation for Park’splayers ahead of the V.League’s return this June and the upcoming AFF Cupat the end of the year./.
VNA
