Vietnam U23's opponent - Syria U23 suspected of age fraud
Immediately after U23 Syria had a 0-0 draw with U23 Korea, the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) newspaper cited an investigation by Fairfax Media suspecting U23 Syria used some players older than the U23 age group.
Yesterday afternoon (January 14), U23 Vietnam had a surprising 1-0 victory over U23 Australia to rise to second place in Group D of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. Meanwhile, U23 Syria also excellently held U23 Korea to a 0-0 draw. This result means that all teams in the group still have a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals. In the final match, U23 Vietnam will meet U23 Syria.
U23 Syria (red shirt) is suspected of using many players over 23 years old when participating in the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.
Right before the “life-or-death” match between the two teams, U23 Syria was suddenly suspected of cheating on the age of its players. The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) cited an investigation by Fairfax Media suspecting U23 Syria of using some players older than the U23 age group.
Fairfax Media's investigation shows that some U23 Syria players who played against U23 Australia at the U23 Asian Cup were suspected of age fraud. Specifically, in the records of strikers Shadi Al-Hamwi and Mohammad Rafat Muhtadi submitted to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), they were registered as born on January 1, 1995. In the 1-3 loss to Australia, Al-Hamwi and Muhtadi both played. In addition, the U23 Syria squad has a total of 8 players born on January 1, 1995.
The rules of the U23 Asian Cup clearly state that only players born on or after January 1, 1995 are eligible to participate in the tournament. At this time, the Australian media suspected that U23 Syria had falsified documents to bring in older players. They said that a team with up to 8 players born on January 1, 1995 was very suspicious.
The incident was reported to the AFC. However, the Asian Football Confederation said that they could only verify the age of the players participating in the tournament through official letters sent by the Football Federation of that country. In addition, they could only trust the authenticity of the governments of the countries whose teams participated in the tournament.
U23 Vietnam "shocking" win over U23 Australia
(Baonghean.vn) - The excellence of the defense, goalkeeper Tien Dung, luck and bright spot Nguyen Quang Hai surprised Southeast Asia with the victory of U23 Vietnam over U23 Australia.
Shocked by the height of U23 Vietnam at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship
Among the 4 teams in Group D of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, U23 Vietnam is the team with the shortest average height. This is clearly a big disadvantage for Coach Park Hang-seo’s players and the reality showed that in the match with U23 Korea.
U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Korea in a regrettable way.
(Baonghean.vn)- Facing U23 Korea, a strong candidate for the championship, coach Park Hang Seo and his team had a brave match, scoring the first goal and then regretfully losing.
