Vietnam team plays with determination against championship candidate Japan at Asian Cup 2023
(Baonghean.vn) - Although there was a time when Vietnam was leading Japan, the match ended with a 2-4 defeat. The confrontation between Japan and Vietnam was part of the 2023 Asian Cup held in Qatar.
Participating in the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnam team is in Group D with teams including Japan, Iraq and Indonesia. In the opening match, coach Troussier and his team will face the number 1 team in Asia, Japan. Experts all agree that the Vietnam team will have difficulty scoring points when facing the Blue Samurai.
Before that difficult match, the Golden Star team was also at a disadvantage when they could not have the service of the leader in the defense Que Ngoc Hai due to injury. In addition, Van Lam and Tien Linh could not participate in the tournament when facing a similar situation.
Therefore, replacement players like Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Nguyen Filip, or Dinh Bac are expected to fill the gaps left by these pillars.
Also in the starting lineup for this match, coach Troussier continued to trust Pham Xuan Manh – former defender of Song Lam Nghe An for the right-back position. Another player from Nghe An, Dinh Bac, was trusted by the French coach in the role of striker.
On the other side of the front line, Japan also could not field their strongest lineup as Wataru Endo, Takefusa Kubo, Kaoru Mitoma and Takehiro Tomiyasu were injured. However, with the remaining force in the lineup, the Japanese team is still considered to be completely superior to Vietnam.
This was evident as soon as the ball rolled at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Coach Moriyasu's team completely controlled the game and launched a series of attacks on the Vietnamese team's field.
Despite their best efforts, the Golden Star Warriors could only hold out for more than 10 minutes after the opening whistle. Japan, with their superior quality, opened the scoring in the 11th minute.
The goal came from a corner kick that Japan had won, goalkeeper Nguyen Filip did not handle well, then Yukinari Sugawara took a shot but was blocked. The ball bounced right to Minamino and in a comfortable position, the midfielder who used to play for Liverpool leisurely put the ball into the Vietnamese net.
It was thought that the yellow star team would collapse before the strength of the opponent. However, coach Troussier's students still showed a calm playing style and were not afraid to organize the ball to find the equalizer.
After many tireless efforts, in the 16th minute, Vietnam brought the match back to the starting line. The equalizer was scored by striker Nguyen Dinh Bac from Nghe An. The young player born in 2004 moved to receive Hung Dung's corner kick, then made a classy reverse header, sending the ball over the head of goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, flying into the far corner, hitting the opponent's net, to the amazement of thousands of fans from Japan.
With the momentum, the Vietnamese players confidently launched dangerous attacks on Zion Suzuki's goal. With this way of playing, Vietnam created a big surprise when they raised the score to 2-1 in the 33rd minute. The goal came from Phan Tuan Tai's cross into the penalty area. Center back Viet Anh tried to jump high to head the ball. Goalkeeper Suzuki could not catch it and Tuan Hai quickly rushed in to score the rebound into the Japanese net.
In the difficult times, the class of the team that defeated both Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup spoke up with an equalizer 2-2 in the 45th minute of the match. Captain Endo made a quality pass to Minamino. The former Liverpool player controlled the ball neatly, then placed the ball through Viet Anh's legs, defeating Nguyen Filip.
Not stopping there, in the final seconds of injury time of the first half, Japan scored again to take the lead. The goal was scored after a classy curling shot into the top corner by Keito Nakamura.
The first 45 minutes of the match ended with a score of 3-2 in favor of the Blue Samurai. In the second half, coach Moriyasu's team continued to show the strength of the team rated No. 1 in Asia, when they continuously caused trouble in front of Nguyen Filip's goal.
In the 63rd minute, Ito dribbled the ball on the left wing, creating an opportunity for Morita to finish in the penalty area, but Tuan Tai tried to head the ball to clear the Vietnamese goal.
More than 10 minutes earlier, Dinh Bac also made Japanese fans gasp when he used his speed to dribble the ball straight into the penalty area, but his shot hit a Japanese defender. Then, Thanh Long's long-range shot went over the bar.
In the final minutes of the match, Japan no longer pushed the attack tempo too high, but with smooth, flexible, high-quality coordination, still made Nguyen Filip's goal shake many times. And what had to come, came in the 85th minute, from a coordination in the middle, Ayase Ueda received the ball, calmly handled the Vietnamese defender, then finished into the near corner, leaving Nguyen Filip helpless.
The final score of 4-2 in favor of Japan was also the final result of the match. On January 19, the Vietnam team will enter the second match in Group D to meet the Indonesia team./.
