Ha Duc Chinh scored, U22 Vietnam struggled to defeat U22 Singapore

Ha Duc Chinh celebrates the decisive goal. Photo: Hai Hoang

Compared to the match against U22 Indonesia, Coach Park Hang-seo decided not to use goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung. Instead, goalkeeper Nguyen Van Toan was used. In the center-back position when Tan Sinh was injured, the names chosen were Ngoc Bao, Thanh Chung and Duc Chien.

The two full-backs of U22 Vietnam are Van Hau and Tan Tai, the highest player is Hoang Duc on the right wing and the opposite wing is Quang Hai. The center forward of U22 Vietnam is Ha Duc Chinh replacing Tien Linh. Trong Hoang was also put on the field from the beginning of the match.

Coach Park Hang-seo's team defended proactively and did not rush to increase the speed of their attacks. In the 16th minute, from a free kick about 25m from the goal, Irfan Fandi fired a low shot. It took goalkeeper Van Toan 3 beats to control the ball.

Injury forced Quang Hai to leave the field early in the first half and the presence of Hung Dung helped U22 Vietnam play better attack. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the 20th minute, Sazali made a difficult cross from the left wing. Van Toan proactively pushed the ball away from the U22 Vietnam goal. In the next corner kick situation, the goalkeeper of Hai Phong Club made a good judgment of the landing point.

In the situation where Quang Hai was slightly injured and U22 Vietnam could not actively control the game in the first 20 minutes, coach Park Hang-seo immediately sent Hung Dung onto the field to replace Quang Hai.

STARTING LINEUP

U22 Vietnam: Van Toan, Duc Chien, Ngoc Bao, Thanh Chung, Van Hau, Viet Hung, Thanh Son, Tan Tai, Hoang Duc, Quang Hai, Duc Chinh.

U22 Singapore: Rohaizad, Irfan Fandi, Najeeb, Salamat, Sazali, Mahler, Stewart, Suzliman, Ramli, Pashia, Ikhsan Fandi.

In the remaining minutes, the U22 Vietnam defense still faced many difficulties against Singapore's fast playing style. In the 28th minute, another yellow card was issued, this time to Le Ngoc Bao, following the previous yellow card for center back Duc Chien.

In addition, U22 Singapore also actively played close, ready to commit fouls to prevent U22 Vietnam players from organizing attacks. This caused the first half to end goalless and without any notable finishing moves.

U22 Singapore's center back Irfan Fandi neutralized a series of attacks by U22 Vietnam. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the second half, the situation did not improve, U22 Vietnam was still stuck in attack and coach Park Hang-seo once again sent Tien Linh onto the field to replace Thanh Son to play with 2 strikers. A few minutes after entering the field, Tien Linh had a chance to face the Singapore goalkeeper from a dispute with Duc Chinh, unfortunately the opposing defender had time to retreat to clear the danger.

In the 55th minute, the pressure continued to be maintained and U22 Vietnam increased the speed of attack. From a pass from the right wing, Tien Linh continued to have a chance but his shot was close to the 5m50 line and did not hit the ball.

The scoring opportunity became clearer and clearer. From the efforts of Trong Hoang and Hung Dung on the right wing, Doan Van Hau continued to have a shot from outside the penalty area but the ball went too high. In the 61st minute, Tien Linh once again had a clear opportunity to score after Ha Duc Chinh passed the ball in, but the goal still did not come for U22 Vietnam.

With just over 20 minutes left in the match, left-back Do Thanh Thinh entered the field to replace center-back Ngoc Bao. As the match progressed, U22 Vietnam forced U22 Singapore to retreat deep into their own half to defend, and Coach Park Hang-seo's players completely controlled the game.

Tien Linh's entry into the field helped U22 Vietnam increase its attack power. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the 78th minute, U22 Vietnam was awarded a corner kick, the ball found Doan Van Hau but his header was inaccurate. The dangerous attacks of U22 Vietnam were almost all neutralized by Singapore's captain Irfan Fandi.

Finally, after a series of tumultuous situations, U22 Vietnam scored a goal to end the emotional match. In the 85th minute, from a corner kick on the right wing by Hung Dung, Van Hau pushed the ball into the wall and Duc Chinh jumped high to head the ball past the Singapore goalkeeper.

A goal with a lot of meaning and was practiced skillfully by Coach Park Hang-seo's students. Just 5 minutes later, Trieu Viet Hung made the Singapore goalkeeper stand still and watch the ball with an outside-foot shot from about 25m away, unfortunately the ball missed the post by a hair.

In the 88th minute, U22 Vietnam had another chance to increase the score to 2-0 from a cross on the left wing, unfortunately Duc Chinh could not tap the ball into the goal as he wanted. In the 3 minutes of extra time, U22 Vietnam still maintained the pressure to find another goal.

In the end, U22 Vietnam won a narrow victory in a rather difficult way. With these 3 points, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team continued to maintain the top position in Group B with 12 points. In the remaining match, U22 Thailand beat Laos with a score of 2-0 while Indonesia rose to 2nd place after defeating Brunei with a difference of 8 goals.

Current rankings of Group B of men's football at SEA Games 30. Photo: Zing