Iraq coach: "Vietnam deserved to win"
Abdul Ghani Shahad said that Vietnam had a worthy result against his team in the quarter-finals of the U23 Asian Cup, in the match on the afternoon of January 20 in China.
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U23 Vietnam creates a new breeze in the AFC U23 Championship. Photo:Mr. Khoa. |
“First of all, I have to apologize to the Iraqi fans because we could not do what they expected,” coach Abdul Ghani Shahad said after losing to U23 Vietnam in the quarterfinals. “Overall, this is a worthy result for Vietnam, they played well, causing us many difficulties.”
Iraq - champions in 2013 and third in 2016 - were rated higher than Vietnam but the reality was the opposite. Coach Abdul Ghani Shahad's players played inconsistently, mainly using high balls to threaten Vietnam's goal. They scored two of their three goals from high balls.
Penalty shootout helps U23 Vietnam win
However, Vietnam played more effectively from set pieces to draw 3-3 after 120 minutes, taking the match to penalties. “Our team played well in attack. But Vietnam was not far behind, they scored two goals from high balls,” coach Shahad continued. “I take responsibility for this result. Although we wanted to try to win in 90 minutes, in football nothing can be predicted.”
In the semi-finals, Vietnam will face Qatar. The match will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23.
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