Looking back at the Vietnamese national team's journey at the 2019 Asian Cup.

In the second qualifying round, the Vietnamese national team was in Group F along with Thailand, Iraq, Chinese Taipei, and Indonesia. At this time, due to the Indonesian Football Federation being banned from football activities by FIFA, with a loss against Thailand, a draw against Iraq, and a win against Chinese Taipei, the Vietnamese team ranked behind Thailand and Iraq, in third place and qualified for the next round.

Along with Jordan, the Vietnamese national team performed excellently, finishing second in their group after overcoming Afghanistan and Cambodia in the third qualifying round to reach the finals and being placed in Group 3 before the draw. The luck of the draw placed our team in a very difficult group with Yemen and two very strong opponents from West Asia, Iran and Iraq.

In their opening match, the Vietnamese national team played very well against Iraq, leading repeatedly in the first half. However, in the second half, Iraq showed their strength to equalize before scoring a goal in the final minutes to secure all three points.

The defeat against Iraq has put Coach Park Hang-seo's team in a very difficult position, as their opponent in the second match is currently the number one team in Asia. Against Iran, the Vietnamese national team also put up a resilient fight and only lost by a narrow margin.

The Vietnamese national team suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Iraq. Photo: AFC

After two defeats, the Vietnamese national team needed to win against Yemen by the largest possible margin to have any hope of qualifying as one of the four best third-placed teams. However, with a 2-0 victory, Vietnam's fate was sealed, and they had to anxiously await the results of other groups for a chance to advance.

But Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, and Oman successively advanced to the round of 16, leaving only the match between Lebanon and North Korea for Vietnamese fans to look forward to.

At 11:00 PM (January 17, 2019), on a day when the Vietnamese national team wasn't playing, millions of hearts still stayed awake to cheer on a team from East Asia that would put up a tenacious fight against Lebanon. The joy came early when North Korea scored in the 8th minute and a Lebanese player received a yellow card in the 33rd minute, a favorable result that could secure Vietnam's place in the next round.

Vietnam advanced to the round of 16 as Lebanon could not determine their own fate. Photo: AFC

Having narrowly qualified, the Vietnamese national team advanced to the Round of 16, facing Jordan, a team they had previously shared a group with in the third qualifying round. This was also the opening match of the Round of 16 of the 2019 Asian Cup. Although they fell behind after an indirect free-kick in the first half, Coach Park Hang-seo's players quickly regained control and equalized with a beautiful cross from Trong Hoang by Cong Phuong just a few minutes into the second half.

Despite their best efforts in the remaining minutes, the Vietnamese national team were unable to score a goal to settle the match after 120 minutes and had to go to a tense penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, the Vietnamese players consistently converted their penalties in the first three rounds, while the opposing team hit the crossbar and failed to beat Van Lam in two instances. Although Minh Vuong couldn't beat the Jordanian goalkeeper in the fourth round, center-back Bui Tien Dung redeemed his teammate's mistake with the decisive penalty, sending Vietnam into the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup.

The Vietnamese national team deservedly won against Jordan in the round of 16. Photo: AFC

In the quarter-finals, against a stronger opponent in every aspect, the Vietnamese national team boldly attacked from the start, causing many difficulties for the opposing defense and creating numerous opportunities to open the scoring. However, on an unlucky day, Cong Phuong, Van Duc, and Quang Hai were unable to penetrate the Japanese team's net.

In the first half, VAR technology, used for the first time at the Asian Cup, helped the Vietnamese national team avoid conceding a goal due to captain Yoshida's handball. However, VAR also awarded Japan a penalty early in the second half, which Ritsu Doan converted to score the only goal of the match.

The following minutes witnessed the incredible effort and spirit of the "Golden Star Warriors". Although the result was not even, the 90 minutes against the Japanese team made many people see the Vietnamese national team in a different light, filled with respect and admiration after the match.

Vietnamese football has made significant progress over the past year. Photo: AFC

The Vietnamese national team's journey in the 2019 Asian Cup came to an end, concluding a fulfilling year for Vietnamese football with runner-up finish at the U23 Asian Championship, fourth place at the 2018 Asian Games, reigning AFF Cup champions, and reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup.