How did Cong Phuong play against Japan's "European" defense?

Statistics throughout the 90 minutes show that, although we only controlled the ball 31.8%, the Vietnam team had a 41.0% successful tackle rate, 4/16 shots on target while the opponent had 6/11. Que Ngoc Hai and the Vietnamese defense had 11 tackles, a success rate of 90.9% and our accurate passing rate was 70.0%, not too inferior to the opponent (86.2%).

Match heat map. Photo: AFC

There were times when the Japanese defense was confused, but luck and class helped Japan deserve a ticket to the semi-finals. Closing the 2019 Asian Cup, Coach Park and his team really raised the level of Vietnamese football and this match was truly the pinnacle of the country's football.

As for Nguyen Cong Phuong, he successfully completed 12 out of 13 passes, achieving an accuracy rate of 92.3%, the highest in the red team. He also surpassed his teammates with 5 "key passes" (roughly translated: decisive passes that can lead to goals). While the total squad of the Vietnam national team only had 7 "key passes".

Striker Nguyen Cong Phuong in the match against Japan. Photo: Minh Chien

In addition to the situation of putting the ball into the net but being called offside in the 16th minute, Cong Phuong had 3 shots in this match, the most in the Vietnamese squad. He also had many dribbles and penetrations that made the Japanese defense shaken many times.

Although he did not score in the match against Japan, Cong Phuong can still be satisfied. The Nghe An striker ended the 2019 Asian Cup with 2 goals and was the best scorer of the Vietnamese team on the journey to the quarterfinals.

Dang Van Lam's outstanding performance against Japan

(Baonghean.vn) - Goalkeeper Dang Van Lam had an excellent match when he played with concentration and made countless miraculous saves against the dangerous shots of the strikers playing in Europe on the Japanese national team.

Hoai Hoan