Vietnamese players dance when winning tickets to the round of 16
Dang Van Lam, Duy Manh, Bui Tien Dung... hugged each other to celebrate in the hotel hallway, after the match between Lebanon and North Korea ended on the evening of January 17.
After finishing the group stage with a 2-0 victory over Yemen, yesterday coach Park Hang-seo gave the entire team a break from training. The players took advantage of this time to go shopping, stroll around town, visit Qasr Al Muwaji Palace...
After dinner, they returned to the hotel to watch the decisive match between Lebanon and North Korea. Before that, Coach Park and his team were disappointed when Oman scored in extra time in the match against Turkmenistan to win the third wild card to the round of 16.
Watching the match on their phone screens, the Vietnamese players looked tense. In another corner, Coach Park stood with his arms crossed watching with assistant coach Nguyen Duc Canh. After Lebanon scored to make it 4-1, Dang Van Lam and some others held their heads in worry. If this team could score one more goal against North Korea, the opportunity would be closed for Vietnam.
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| Vietnam met Jordan in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers - where the two teams were tied after two home and away matches. Photo:Mr. Khoa. |
However, right after the final whistle sounded, Vietnam won the right to continue thanks to a fair-play score advantage over Oman. The players burst into emotion. Captain Que Ngoc Hai, central defenders Bui Tien Dung, Do Duy Manh, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam... hugged and danced.
"Yesterday, at Qasr Al Muwaji Palace, we met the UAE Princess and Prince. They said they have admired the Vietnamese team for a long time. They revealed that this Palace still keeps Aladdin's magic lamp. Just touch the lamp and wish for Vietnam to enter the round of 16, the genie will take care of everything," a member of the Vietnamese team revealed toVnExpress"The whole team was skeptical, but in the end the unbelievable became true."
On the morning of January 18, the Vietnamese team will travel from Al Ain to Dubai to prepare for the Round of 16 match against Jordan. Here, the team will stay at the Crown Plaza Dubai Hotel, only 8 km from the stadium.