Vietnamese football player Cong Phuong (Photo: Vietnamnet)Hanoi, (VNA) - Vietnam hasearned a berth at the final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23Championship to be held in China next year.
Although Vietnam lost to theRepublic of Korea 1-2 in the last qualification match, held at the Thong NhatStadium in Ho Chi Minh City on July 23, they will have a slot in the final asone of six best second-placed teams of the qualifying round.
CoachNguyen Huu Thang used four key players - Nguyen Van Toan, Nguyen Tuan Anh, LuongXuan Truong and Nguyen Cong Phuong - in the starting formation for the firsttime.
Vietnamplayed defence in the first minutes of the match, however, striker LeeSang-heon opened for the visitors in the 19th minute.
Afterreceiving the first loss, Vietnam attacked to level the score and from a passin the left wing, striker Phuong defeated goalie Song Bum-keun to even thescore for Vietnam. It is the 11th goal Phuong has scored at the Thong NhatStadium in the past three years.
TheRepublic of Korea played attack continuously to seek more goals. In the42nd minute, receiving a pass from Cho Young-wook, Hwang In-beom raised thescore to 2-1 for his team.
Afterthe break, Vietnam had opportunities to score, but failed to do so.
"Vietnamwas well organised, had good combination and played with high concentration inthis game. We had some difficulties before the tournament, because we didn’thave our strongest players, but we played well today. All of our players werefocused and showed a good performance. Vietnam is a good team, and I think theywill improve a lot in the near future," said coach Chung Jung-yong ofthe Republic of Korea on the website the-afc.com.
Meanwhilecoach Thang said: “I am satisfied with our players’ spirit. We did not playwith the idea to take only one point today but they played with goodconcentration."
At the qualification, 42 teams havebeen divided into nine groups, playing in nine countries including Vietnam. Theother eight hosting countries are the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand, and the UnitedArab Emirates.
These teams will fight for 15 tickets tocompete in the event’s final round. China qualified automatically for the finalround as the hosts.-VNA
Although Vietnam lost to theRepublic of Korea 1-2 in the last qualification match, held at the Thong NhatStadium in Ho Chi Minh City on July 23, they will have a slot in the final asone of six best second-placed teams of the qualifying round.
CoachNguyen Huu Thang used four key players - Nguyen Van Toan, Nguyen Tuan Anh, LuongXuan Truong and Nguyen Cong Phuong - in the starting formation for the firsttime.
Vietnamplayed defence in the first minutes of the match, however, striker LeeSang-heon opened for the visitors in the 19th minute.
Afterreceiving the first loss, Vietnam attacked to level the score and from a passin the left wing, striker Phuong defeated goalie Song Bum-keun to even thescore for Vietnam. It is the 11th goal Phuong has scored at the Thong NhatStadium in the past three years.
TheRepublic of Korea played attack continuously to seek more goals. In the42nd minute, receiving a pass from Cho Young-wook, Hwang In-beom raised thescore to 2-1 for his team.
Afterthe break, Vietnam had opportunities to score, but failed to do so.
"Vietnamwas well organised, had good combination and played with high concentration inthis game. We had some difficulties before the tournament, because we didn’thave our strongest players, but we played well today. All of our players werefocused and showed a good performance. Vietnam is a good team, and I think theywill improve a lot in the near future," said coach Chung Jung-yong ofthe Republic of Korea on the website the-afc.com.
Meanwhilecoach Thang said: “I am satisfied with our players’ spirit. We did not playwith the idea to take only one point today but they played with goodconcentration."
At the qualification, 42 teams havebeen divided into nine groups, playing in nine countries including Vietnam. Theother eight hosting countries are the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand, and the UnitedArab Emirates.
These teams will fight for 15 tickets tocompete in the event’s final round. China qualified automatically for the finalround as the hosts.-VNA
VNA
