Vietnam national football team lost to Iraq on the opening day of Asian Cup 2019

Entering the match, the Vietnamese team entered the match with confidence and did not show any inferiority in the game against a highly rated opponent. The players in the midfield were always present at the right time in the defensive area to help the defense breathe easier and more or less create remarkable counter-attack situations that put pressure on the opponent's field.

Half of the match passed, notable situations were created but there were no real dangerous situations for the goals of the two teams. The Vietnamese defense with Duy Manh's alertness and Que Ngoc Hai's experience stood firm against the attacks of the opposing team.

The Vietnam - Iraq match was dramatic. Photo: AFC

In the 25th minute of the match, a surprise goal came to the Vietnam national team, in a counter-attack situation in the middle of the Vietnam national team, Quang Hai made a delicate pass for Cong Phuong to run down. In an effort to block the player wearing the number 10 shirt, central defender Ali Faez Attiyah accidentally scored an own goal with a beautiful backheel that completely defeated goalkeeper Hassan.

In the following minutes of the match, the ball mainly rolled in the midfield area with the mobility of the midfielders on both sides, but not many opportunities were created. When completely deadlocked in the path to goalkeeper Dang Van Lam's goal, the Vietnamese national team's defense had a moment of lack of concentration, Duy Manh did not control the ball well near the penalty area, allowing young striker Ali to steal the ball and score the equalizer 1-1.

Vietnam's defense must be at full strength when facing Iraq. Photo: AFC

The match continued with the Vietnamese team pressing the field, and the students of Coach Park Hang-seo created consecutive opportunities. And from one of those situations, in the 42nd minute, Quang Hai passed the ball to the right wing for Trong Hoang. The Nghe An player broke through before unleashing a tricky shot. Although the Iraqi goalkeeper successfully blocked the shot, he was helpless against Cong Phuong's follow-up shot. The score of 2-1 in favor of the Vietnamese team was also the final score of the first half.

Vietnam team celebrates goal. Photo: AFC

Entering the second half, Iraq players quickly pushed up their formation to find an equalizer, however, Vietnam also took advantage of that advantage to have counter-attacks that could have created scoring opportunities but were unfortunately missed.

And after more than 15 minutes of struggling to defend, we conceded a goal from a cross-field situation from the opponent. Humam Tariq scored the equalizer for the Iraqi team in a chaotic situation of the defense.

The match went into the final minutes and until the last official minutes of play, from a set piece situation, Adnan scored a goal to help the Iranian team score a goal to increase the score to 3-2 and this was also the final result of the match.

With this result, Vietnam will face many difficulties to continue. The next opponent of coach Park Hang-seo's team will be Iran, the match will take place at 6:00 p.m. on January 12.

STARTING LINE-UP:

- Vietnam National Team: Van Lam, Duy Manh, Que Ngoc Hai, Tien Dung, Hung Dung, Xuan Truong, Hong Duy, Trong Hoang, Van Duc, Quang Hai, Cong Phuong.

- Iraq national team: Hassan, Ibrahim, Haddad, Adnan, Atiyah, Hadi, Salim, Gheni, Ali, Jabbar, Al Saedi

SCORING:

- Vietnam national team: Ali Faez Attiyah (Own goal), Cong Phuong

- Iraq national team: Mohanad Ali, Humam Tariq, Ali Adnan

Vietnam - Iraq live: Cong Phuong unexpectedly plays center forward

(Baonghean.vn) - With the goal of passing the group stage, coach Park Hang Seo and his team will be determined to get a good result against Iraq before facing the strongest team in the group, Iran, and the weaker opponent, Yemen, in the final match.