Vietnam team creates big surprise at Japan's home field

Hung Dung played with great effort in the midfield area, contributing greatly to the draw against Japan. Photo: Internet

After more than 6 months of playing in the 3rd Qualifying RoundWorld Cup, teamVietnamhas given fans many exciting and thrilling matches. We have played on par with the top teams in the continent. And the fans who love the team can all be proud of what the golden star warriors have shown.

Today's match against Japan is the last match of the qualifying round. The result of this match does not mean much to both teams. Because while coach Hajime Moriyasu's team has secured a place at the 2022 World Cup, Vietnam no longer has the ability to get a ticket to Qatar. Therefore, the match at Saitama Stadium is the last chance for coach Park Hang-seo and his team to experience the 2022 World Cup qualifying round.

Vietnam's starting lineup in this match lacked many key players, due to players being injured or having Covid-19. It was quite a surprise that even though Van Lam had returned to the national team, Nguyen Manh was still the one guarding the goal for the red team. Because the Golden Ball 2022 - Nguyen Hoang Duc could not participate, the central midfielders were still Hung Dung and Tuan Anh. In this match, Cong Phuong also played from the start in place of Tien Linh, who was injured. Overall, there were not many changes in Vietnam's lineup from the previous match against Oman.

Having to play away in Japan is a big challenge for the will of the Golden Star Warriors. The strength of coach Hajime Moriyasu's students was shown as soon as the opening whistle blew. With very good ball control, the home team almost dominated the game. However, Vietnam still showed determination when playing on par with a big team. Our strikers played focused, always close and not afraid of collision to reduce Japan's ability to handle the ball at high speed.

Not only knowing how to defend, Coach Park Hang-seo's students are quite confident in their coordination when attacking. This has created excitement for more than 3,000 Vietnamese fans present at Saitama Stadium. And the first impressive move of the match, quite surprisingly, belonged to the yellow star army. That was a brave dribble on the left wing by Tuan Hai. The striker wearing the number 6 shirt crossed into the penalty area. The Japanese defender cleared the ball right to Hung Dung's position. But the midfielder playing for Hanoi could not shoot. The opportunity passed by quite regrettably for Vietnam.

Thanh Binh had a beautiful header to open the score for the Vietnamese team. Photo: Internet

And the fans did not have to feel too sorry because just a few minutes later, the earthquake on Saitama field happened. Thanh Binh's header opened the score for the Vietnamese team in the 20th minute of the match. The goal came from a corner kick on the left wing, the center back wearing the number 14 shirt jumped high and headed the ball across the corner, defeating goalkeeper Kawashima.

The Japanese team was quite surprised and amazed by the confidence of Mr. Park's students. That was shown in the rather awkward handling of the Samurai warriors' defense.

After conceding a goal, Japan tried to push up their formation to find an equalizer. The home team's coordination was quite smooth and created many problems for Nguyen Manh's goal. However, in the final situations, Hajime Moriyasu's students still did not show high accuracy.

Japan's high pressing ability was extremely good, so although Vietnam stole the ball, they could not organize a counter-attack. And from the situation of the home players winning the ball, Genki Haraguchi had a low shot that left Nguyen Manh helpless, but fortunately the ball did not go into the middle of the goal. The resilience of the Vietnamese players prevented Japan from converting their chances into an equalizer in the first 45 minutes.

Entering the second half, the home team continued to maintain a one-sided game. The first chance of the half belonged to Japan. Minamino's volley had quite a bit of spin, but Nguyen Manh still showed his solidity in the goal.

However, in the next situation, the goalkeeper from Nghe An could not catch the ball, allowing Yoshida to rush in and equalize the score for the home team.

After the equalizer, the Japanese players continued to push up their formation. With the ability to keep the ball and pass it around very well, Hajime Moriyasu's students caused a lot of trouble for Nguyen Manh's goal. Tanaka even managed to put the ball into the Vietnamese net, but fortunately after consulting VAR, the referee did not recognize the goal.

A few minutes later, Yoshida missed an unbelievable goal. His shot was only a few meters from the goal but the ball flew out. In the final minutes, Vietnam had to endure continuous attacks from the home team. However, the Golden Star Warriors still played bravely and maintained a draw against the top team in Asia.

Duc Anh