Vietnam crushes Cambodia despite being shorthanded in U16 Asian qualifiers

Coach Vu Hong Viet and his team won 5-2 in the opening match in Ulan Bator, Mongolia on the afternoon of September 20.

Group I of the 2018 AFC U16 Championship qualifiers includes four teams: Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia and Mongolia. The matches will be played on the artificial turf field at the Football Center MFF.

U16 Vietnam (red shirt) had to play with one less player early on when captain Tien Long received a red card in the 20th minute. Photo: AFC.

Playing against an underdog in the opening match, Vietnam aimed to win to gain an advantage for the following matches. Therefore, coach Vu Hong Viet asked his players to play high right after the opening whistle. They were soon rewarded with the opening goal by Van Thong in the 9th minute.

Cambodia also quickly proved to be a team that is progressing rapidly in the recent area. In the 16th minute, they equalized, after KyRina defeated goalkeeper Duy Dung.

About four minutes laterCaptain Tien Long committed a foul in the penalty area, received a red card, and the home team received a penalty. However, goalkeeper Duy Dung saved the penalty from the Cambodian player to protect the score 1-1.

Playing with one less player for most of the time, the Vietnamese players still played well and effectively, even scoring four more goals thanks to Nguyen Hoang (minute 56), Trung Hau (minute 68), The Hung (minute 79) and Chi Bao (minute 85).

Ly Mael was the one who scored the remaining equalizer.Cambodia in the 74th minute.

Despite playing with one less player, the U16 Vietnam players still won a resounding victory. Photo: AFC.

“Today, I am very happy because the team won, although it was very difficult because we had to play with one less player,” said coach Vu Hong Viet. “The upcoming match against Mongolia will be difficult because we don’t know much about them. They are also the home team. However, we will try our best.”

The Vietnam-Mongolia match will take place on September 22. Two days later, the team plays its final match against Australia.

According to VNE