Revisit Vietnam U23’s amazing journey to the AFC Cup finals
VOV.VN - The Vietnam U23 team have repeated their amazing feats of previous rounds with yet another surprise victory, as they continue to make history for Vietnam football by advancing to the final of the AFC U23 Championship. Let’s review their journey from group underdogs to a place in the finals of the tournament:
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| Vietnam’s U23s were seen as the minnows of Group D, which featured the might of Australia, Syria, and the Republic of Korea U23s. |
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| In their first match of the group stages, coach Park Hang Seo’s team faced the RoK U23s - runners up at AFC Champ 2016. |
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| Despite facing such a strong team, Vietnam U23s opened the scoring thanks to a great piece of play from Quang Hai. |
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| Midfielder Quang Hai justified his place in the team by netting against the RoK U23s. |
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| However, the outstanding strength of the RoK U23s eventually came to bear and the match ended in a 2-1 defeat for Vietnam U23s. |
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| Coach Park Hang Seo’s team next faced another strong rival in Australia U23s. |
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| Soaking up pressure and hitting them on the counter attack became the mode of play for Vietnam, bringing success as Quang Hai scored with a long range drive. |
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| With a slender lead, Vietnam U23s faced unrelenting pressure from the opposition. |
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| However, the Vietnamese players held strong to deny Australia and keep the score at 1-0 to take a momentous win. |
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| In their final match of Group D, Vietnam U23s faced Syria. |
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| To secure a place in the quarter finals, the Vietnam U23s needed to win, or to draw and for RoK to beat Australia. |
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| Vietnam U23s played out a scoreless draw with Syria. The result meant the team had 4 points after 3 matches and took second place in Group D, giving them a historic place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U23 Championship 2018. |
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| In the quarter-finals, Vietnam U23s met a very strong team in Iraq’s U23s. |
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| Vietnam’s players took the game to Iraq in an exciting match which ended 3-3 after 90 minutes and extra time. |
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| Vietnam continued their dream journey at the AFC U23 Championship by beating Iraq 5-3 in the penalty shootout. |
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| Vietnam U23s made shock waves across Asia, marking a historic milestone for Vietnam’s football as they advanced to the semi-finals for the first time. |
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| In the semi-finals, Vietnam’s U23s faced Qatar, a favourite for the 2018 AFC championship title. |
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| Qatar U23s opened the scoring in the 39th minute after being awarded a penalty by Singaporean referee Muhammad Taqi as Qatari striker Almoez Ali was adjudged to have been dragged down inside the box. The first half ended 1-0 to Qatar. |
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| In the second half, Qatar’s failure to clear a cross from Vietnam’s sub Nguyen Phong Hong Duy, set up Quang Hai to hammer the ball home from close-range as he equalised in the 69th minute. |
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| Striker Almoez Ali then gave Qatar the lead in the 87th minute. |
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| Vietnam had to score, and in the nervy final minutes, talismanic midfielder Hai managed to find the net in the 89th. At full time the score was 2-2. |
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| In extra time, Qatar U23s ramped up the pressure on Vietnam U23s, however, the team led by coach Park Hang Seo stood resiliently to keep the score at 2-2. |
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| In the resulting penalty shootout, Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung successfully saved Qatar’s second and fifth shots, from Ahmad Moein, and Sultan Al Brake respectively. In another miracle victory, Vietnam U23s won 4-3 on penalties against Qatar U23s. |
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| Vietnam U23s will next face Uzbekistan U23s in the AFC Championship 2018 final at 3pm on January 27 (Vietnam time). |
