Vietnam U16 team surprisingly defeated Uzbekistan at the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 Tournament
The Vietnam U16 team created a big shock when they won 3-0 against Uzbekistan U16, at the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 Football Tournament.
On the afternoon of August 18, the Vietnam U16 team had its second match against Uzbekistan U16, at the 2024 Peace Cup International U16 tournament. This team is considered stronger than the host team China U16.
In this match, coach Cristiano Roland chose a defensive counter-attacking strategy for the U16 Vietnam team. This was the right decision because U16 Uzbekistan is considered a candidate to compete for the championship with U16 Japan in this tournament.
The right approach and high concentration helped U16 Vietnam maintain a stable game against the pressure of the opponent from Central Asia. In particular, the defense played very well, blocking most of the opponent's attacks.
In the 15th minute, a big surprise happened when U16 Vietnam took the lead from a set piece. Starting from a free kick on the right wing, the ball was sent into the penalty area and Viet Long jumped high to head the ball to open the score 1-0 for the U16 Vietnam team. This important goal relieved the psychological pressure on coach Cristiano Roland's players, helping the gameplay become more effective. The score could have been raised to 2-0 just 5 minutes later if Thien Phu's shot had not hit the crossbar of the opponent's goal.
Despite being behind, the reality on the field still showed the dominance of the U16 Uzbekistan players. However, the efforts of the team from Central Asia were not effective against the defense of U16 Vietnam, which played focused and supported each other quite well.
In the second half, the U16 Vietnam team continued to persist with their chosen tactics. In contrast to the opening day, the U16 Vietnam strikers took full advantage of the opportunities they created. In the 50th minute, the U16 Vietnam team doubled the gap, in a situation where Van Bach made a great breakthrough on the right wing, eliminating the opposing defender before accurately shooting the ball into the net.
Not accepting defeat, U16 Uzbekistan rose up strongly in the following developments. This invisibly helped U16 Vietnam gain more advantages in the tight defense and quick counterattack. In the 70th minute, taking advantage of the opponent's weakness, Thien Phu escaped and faced goalkeeper Olimov and finished neatly, raising the score to 3-0. The U16 Vietnam team could have even ended the match with a score of 4-0 if the ball had not hit the opponent's goal post in the 90th minute.
In the final match of the 2024 Peace Cup U16 International tournament taking place on August 20, the Vietnam U16 team will meet Japan U16. In the opening match, the team from the land of the rising sun shared points with Uzbekistan with a score of 1-1./.