Vietnam team enters the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia
(Baonghean.vn) - Despite losing to the UAE, the Vietnamese team still won the right to enter the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia as one of the 5 best second-placed teams.
Before the match against UAE, Vietnam could advance as group winners if they did not lose. Coach Park Hang Seo and his team could also win tickets as group runners-up with good results, if one of the following four conditions occurred in the other groups: China lost to Syria, Jordan did not beat Australia, Iran did not beat Iraq or Uzbekistan did not beat Saudi Arabia.
Among these, the match between Australia and Jordan ended the earliest, with a 1-0 victory for Australia. This result means Jordan (8 points) is definitely behind Vietnam (11 points) when comparing the achievements between the second-place teams.
This good news came to the Vietnam national team after the end of the first half, when Coach Park Hang-seo's players were trailing 2-0. In the second half, while the Vietnam national team was still being dominated by the UAE, the team's coaching staff withdrew Van Duc, Xuan Truong, Hoang Duc, Van Hau, Duy Manh to bring Cong Phuong, Duc Huy, Minh Vuong, Hong Duy, Van Toan onto the field to look for opportunities to shorten the score. But among them, only Minh Vuong left his mark.In the 85th minute, when the home team UAE was leading 3-0 and still maintaining a very solid game, the midfielder of Hoang Anh Gia Lai coordinated a pass with Quang Hai in front of the penalty area and made a pass just in time for Tien Linh to run down and face goalkeeper Khassif. The striker of the Vietnam national team made a one-touch, accurate shot, shortening the score to 1-3.
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| Vietnamese players celebrate Tien Linh's goal |
Not only that, just 8 minutes later, from a sloppy pass by goalkeeper Khassif, the Vietnamese players stole the ball and launched a quick attack. Receiving the ball from Quang Hai, Minh Vuong did not miss the opportunity in a face-to-face situation with the home team's goalkeeper. This was the last notable situation of the match.
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| The situation where Minh Vuong scored against UAE in the 90+3 minute |
It can be said that Minh Vuong's brilliance helped the Vietnam national team avoid a heavy defeat against a strong opponent. Compared to the loss to the Vietnam national team in November 2019 at My Dinh Stadium, although still led by Dutch coach Ben Van Marwijk, the West Asian team has completely changed in terms of force and playing style. In the previous 3 matches, the UAE players all won big against Southeast Asian teams Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
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| Starting lineup of Vietnam and UAE. Photo: bongdaplus.vn |
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese national team suffered a loss when coach Park Hang-seo was stripped of his coaching rights and midfielder Tuan Anh did not recover from his injury in time. And the starting lineup of the red team was also surprising when both Van Toan and Cong Phuong were absent. The best midfielders of the current team, Quang Hai, Xuan Truong, Van Duc, and Hoang Duc, all started the match, supporting the only striker, Tien Linh.
As predicted by experts, the UAE team quickly showed their superiority right after the opening whistle. With quality players such as Lima, Ibrahim, Ramadan, Hassan, Hammadi and especially striker Mabkhout, the home team played a high-pressing style and created many dangerous opportunities towards goalkeeper Tan Truong's goal.
In the 32nd minute, the superiority of the UAE players was concretized with the opening goal. From the right wing, receiving the ball from teammate Ramadan, midfielder Al Salmeen rushed down and shot diagonally to beat Tan Truong. The fault in this situation belonged to Van Hau when he lost the ball and did not retreat in time to mark the opposing team's goalscorer.
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| UAE players celebrate the opening goal. Photo: Vnexpress.net |
Five minutes before the end of the first half, the UAE team increased the score to 2-0 with a penalty kick by Mabkhout. Before that, the referee determined that goalkeeper Tan Truong had tripped midfielder Al-Naqbi in the penalty area.
Entering the second half, the Vietnamese team had a chance to reduce the score. Just a few minutes after coming on as a substitute, Cong Phuong cleverly placed himself on the left wing, eliminated a UAE defender, then dribbled into the penalty area, passed another defender and shot straight at the goal. However, the ball went lightly and right to the UAE goalkeeper.
Just after this situation, UAE scored a goal to widen the gap. In the 50th minute, after Trong Hoang lost the ball on the right wing, Bandar crossed from the right wing for De Lima to head close to the goal. Goalkeeper Tan Truong failed to catch the ball and left-back Al Hammadi rushed in to head the ball close to the goal to score.
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| Cong Phuong entered the field and created a breakthrough situation in the beginning of the second half. Photo: vnexpress.net |
At this point, although the Vietnamese team had already qualified as one of the five best second-placed teams in the group, Vietnamese fans still hoped that the red-shirted players would score at least one goal to avoid a heavy defeat. However, as the UAE players defended tightly and continued to create dangerous attacks, that hope gradually faded until the 85th minute, when Tien Linh scored.
The time after that was only enough for the Vietnamese team to have another goal from Minh Vuong. But the result of this match, along with the ticket to the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, was enough to satisfy Vietnamese fans./.
Starting lineup
Vietnam:Tan Truong, Van Hau, Tien Dung, Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh, Trong Hoang, Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Xuan Truong, Van Duc, Tien Linh.
UAE:Khaseif, Shaheen Abdalla Almaazmi, Hassan Alblooshi, Ahmeh Al Mabkhout, Majed Hassan, Mohamed Ahbibi, Khajil Ibrahim, De Lima, Ramadan Bekheet, Khamis Hammadi.
Goals: Tien Linh (85', Minh Vuong 90'+3) - Salmeen (32'), Makhout (40' - pen), Hammadi (50').
