Is U23 Vietnam like the Italian team of 16 years ago?
(Baonghean.vn) - The 0-0 draw with U23 Jordan in the second round of Group D makes the chance of Coach Park Hang-seo and his team to enter the quarterfinals extremely slim. In addition to the task of having to defeat U23 North Korea in the final round, they also have to hope for a favorable result in the match at the same time between U23 UAE and U23 Jordan, 2 teams from the West Asia region.
The current situation of Group D is as follows: U23 UAE is in the lead with 4 points, U23 Jordan is in 2nd place with the same 4 points as U23 UAE but is inferior in terms of secondary index (+1 compared to +2), U23 Vietnam is in 3rd place with 2 points, U23 North Korea is in the last place and will definitely be eliminated when they have not scored any points. Thus, the 2 tickets to the next round will be a battle between 3 teams: U23 UAE, U23 Jordan and U23 Vietnam.
According to the regulations of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, the first index to consider the rankings of teams with equal points in the same group is the result of the direct confrontation between the teams. Specifically, in the case of U23 UAE drawing with U23 Jordan, and U23 Vietnam winning U23 North Korea in the last match, U23 UAE, U23 Jordan and U23 Vietnam will finish the group stage with 5 points. At this time, the results of the direct confrontation between the 3 teams will be considered to determine the owners of the 2 tickets to play in the knockout round.
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| Coach Park Hang-seo and his team are facing the risk of being eliminated in the group stage. Photo: Archive |
In the past, there were many teams facing similar situations as U23 Vietnam. Remember at EURO 2004, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Bulgaria were in the same group. After 2 matches, the 2 Northern European teams both drew with Italy (Denmark drew 0-0, Sweden drew 1-1) and both beat Bulgaria. To advance together, Sweden and Denmark must draw with a score of 2-2 or higher.
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| Italian players were disappointed when they learned the result of the Sweden-Denmark match. Photo: gentlemanultra.com |
Hopefully, the scenario of the match between U23 UAE and U23 Jordan will not be the same as the scenario of the match between the Danish National Team and the Swedish National Team, 16 years ago. Instead of the bitter and resentful tears of Antonio Cassano, there will be tears of happiness from Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates. Of course, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team must defeat U23 North Korea, then wait for a fair match between the two teams from West Asia./.
