The defeat came after Vietnamese coach Phan Thanh Hung and captain Nguyen Trong Hoang said at a press conference earlier that they would have a better game and obtain positive results against this strong rival.

Saudi’s Naway Alabid opened the score in the 10th minute with his left-foot shot into the far corner of the net.

The Vietnamese players then went on counter attacking to seek for an equalising goal.

However, their attempts were stopped by a strong defence and they could only scored one goal in the last minute of the first half by Le Van Thang, who finished his fine solo effort with a low shot to the far left corner into the net.

In another match of the second Asian qualifier, Yemen lost 0-4 to Australia.