Asian Cup: Vietnamese football has a knack for securing wildcard spots.
(Baonghean.vn) - If Vietnam defeats Yemen in the final match, they will secure third place in Group D. However, to be among the top four third-placed teams, Coach Park Hang-seo's team will have to wait for the results from the remaining groups.
In the past, Vietnamese teams have often found themselves in similar situations and still achieved their goals. Specifically, at the 16th Asian Games held in China in 2010, the Vietnamese Olympic team was in the same group as the Olympic teams of Iran, Turkmenistan, and Bahrain.
In their opening match, the Vietnam Olympic team defeated the Bahrain Olympic team 3-1. Unfortunately, in the next two matches against the Turkmenistan and Iran Olympic teams, coach Phan Thanh Hung's team lost with scores of 2-6 and 0-1 respectively. Nevertheless, the Vietnam Olympic team still secured a place in the Round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.
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| The Vietnamese team still has a good chance of advancing from the group stage. Photo: bbc.com |
Almost four years ago, in the 2016 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers held in Malaysia (March 2015), the Vietnam U23 team also secured a last-minute spot in the finals. Placed in a group with Japan U23, Malaysia U23, and Macau U23, Coach Miura's team impressively finished second in their group (behind Japan U23) and became one of the five best second-placed teams.
Similarly, in the 2018 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, Vietnam U23 was in the same group as South Korea U23, East Timor U23, and Macau U23. After 3 matches, Nguyen Cong Phuong and his teammates earned 6 points, with 2 wins against East Timor U23 (4-0) and Macau U23 (8-1), and 1 loss against South Korea U23 (1-2). This result helped Vietnam U23 become one of the 6 best second-placed teams to qualify for the finals.
In fact, Vietnam's qualification for this Asian Cup was only thanks to winning the play-off round. According to AFC regulations, the 12 teams that participated in the final qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup, along with the 12 teams that advanced through the play-off round (the play-off round had 24 teams divided into 6 groups), will form the 24 teams competing in the 2019 Asian Cup finals.
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| The Yemen team (in red) is not considered a strong opponent. Photo: sports.yahoo.com |
In the play-off round, the Vietnamese national team was drawn into the same group as Jordan, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. Ultimately, Coach Park Hang-seo's team finished second (behind Jordan) and officially qualified for the tournament held in the UAE. This marks the second time the Vietnamese national team has participated in the Asian Cup finals. Their previous appearance was at the 2007 Asian Cup, as one of the four host nations.
Therefore, many believe that Coach Park Hang-seo's team will qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2019 Asian Cup as one of the best third-placed teams. Historically, Vietnamese football has often had luck with these last-chance qualification spots. The immediate task for Que Ngoc Hai and his teammates is to defeat the Yemen national team by as large a margin as possible.