Crushing Macau, U23 Vietnam surpasses U23 Korea

(Baonghean.vn) – Facing a very weak U23 Macau team, U23 Vietnam easily had a convincing victory. Thereby, leaving U23 Korea behind in the 2018 U23 Asia qualifiers.

The unexpected 0-0 draw between U23 Korea and Timor Leste is a good opportunity for U23 Vietnam to rise to the top of Group I of the U23 Asian qualifiers if coach Huu Thang and his team win against Macau, China.

Compared to the opening match against U23 Timor Leste, U23 Vietnam took the field with a rather new lineup. That was the return of Luong Xuan Truong and only Van Khanh, Van Toan, and Cong Phuong continued to be trusted from the start.

Striker Van Toan had an extremely successful match day against U23 Macau - Photo: Duc Dong

Right after the opening whistle, U23 Vietnam created a suffocating pressure in front of Macau's goal and continuously scored goals before the audience had even warmed up their seats. Striker Van Toan was the one who left his mark in the 2 goals in the 3rd and 6th minutes.

In the first goal, after Van Toan's powerful shot that made the Macau goalkeeper unable to catch the ball, striker Thanh Binh was there in time to easily tap the ball in to open the score. After that, a wall pass with Cong Phuong gave Van Toan a chance to finish and the HAGL striker immediately fired a half-bounce shot, the ball went diagonally, completely defeating the Macau U23 goalkeeper.

Under the pressure created by Coach Huu Thang's students, U23 Macau had to brace themselves and in the 10th minute, Thanh Binh brought a penalty for U23 Vietnam after a foul from the opponent. And on the 11m mark, Cong Phuong widened the gap to 3-0 for the red-shirted boys.

The U23 Vietnam strikers did not encounter many difficulties against the opponent's weak defense - Photo: Duc Dong

With the game being one-sided, the fourth goal for U23 Vietnam was obvious. In the 20th minute, Cong Phuong sparked a quick counter-attack from the home team and he was the one who assisted Thanh Binh to raise the score to 4-0. Cong Phuong's pass eliminated most of the opposing defenders to put his teammate in an extremely favorable position.

In the 23rd minute, it was Xuan Truong's turn to add his name to the list of goalscorers. This player was the author of the 5th goal on the penalty spot after the ball touched the hand of a U23 Macau defender.

Up to this point, goalkeeper Phi Minh Long has not faced any attack from U23 Macau. As for U23 Vietnam, a defender like Hoang Van Khanh has also scored a goal for himself. In the 26th minute, SLNA's central defender jumped high to head the ball into the net of U23 Macau after a corner kick by Quang Hai, the score is now 6-0 for U23 Vietnam.

Center back Hoang Van Khanh celebrates his goal - Photo: Duc Dong

If he had been luckier, Cong Phuong would have helped U23 Vietnam score the 7th goal from a free kick that hit the crossbar in the 34th minute. Not long after this situation, he was let off by coach Huu Thang to make way for striker Ho Tuan Tai.

In the remaining minutes of the first half, Luong Xuan Truong continued to show his role as a creator and continuously put his teammates in favorable finishing positions. However, the number of goals that U23 Vietnam created only stopped at 6.

In the second half, not long after coming on for Quang Hai, Hong Duy unexpectedly got down and flicked the ball over the head of the U23 Macau goalkeeper, raising the score to 7-0. With a "rain of goals", Coach Huu Thang's students continued to maintain pressure and Ho Tuan Tai had a chance to score in the 55th minute. Unfortunately, his shot from an unfavorable position was cleared by the opposing defender right on the goal line.

The nightmare of U23 Macau did not stop when in the 62nd minute, Van Toan ran smartly, received a pass from Xuan Truong after touching the ball to raise the score to 8-0.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang can be satisfied with his students' performance - Photo: Duc Dong

It was thanks to a mistake by the U23 Vietnam central defenders in an aerial battle that U23 Macau was able to narrow the gap through Wa Keng. However, that was all the opponent could do until the final whistle. In the end, U23 Vietnam won with a score of 8-1.

With this great result, U23 Vietnam has 6 absolute points after 2 matches, leading Group I, followed by U23 Korea with 4 points. The remaining positions are Timor Leste and Macau. Thus, the confrontation between Vietnam and Korea in the final match will decide the direct ticket to the 2018 AFC U23 Championship.

Trung Kien