Vietnam lose to RoK at AFC event

Vietnam’s head coach Park Hang-seo put forward his best line-up for the game with strikers Ha Duc Chinh and Nguyen Cong Phuong.

The RoK were on the attack from the start of the match. However, Vietnam took heed of Park’s tactics not to be overcome with the speed of their rival.

In the 17^th minute, after receiving a pass from striker Phuong, midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai opened the score for Vietnam.

Three minutes later the Koreans threatened to level the score, but Hwang Hyun-soo’s long range free-kick went narrowly wide of Vietnam’s goal.

In the 30^th minute, Cho Young-wook leveled the score following an error by midfielder Tran Dinh Trong.

After the break, Doan Van Hau was given a yellow card after a foul on a Korean player in the box, giving the opponents a penalty. However, goalie Bui Tien Dung saved the shot for Vietnam.

After that, the RoK met the difficulties in facing Vietnamese defenders who played with focus and supported each other well.

In the 67^th minute, goal keeper Dung once again saved a crucial shot for Vietnam. However, just seven minutes later, Lee Keun-ho put his header past Dung to push the score to 2-1.

"It was our first match and it’s always difficult. In the first half we conceded a goal, but if we managed to score twice we were able to win the game. In the next game hopefully we can play well. We conceded an early goal but I didn’t ask my players to hurry. They followed my instructions so it was good for us to not rush and to do our jobs." said Kim Bong-gil, the RoK’s head coach on the website the-afc.com.

While Vietnam’s coach Park said, “We scored first but unfortunately we still lost. In all of our defeats we make some mistakes and that’s why we lost the game. But, in general, all of our players played well and they did what I asked them to do. This is the first game for our team and our players were lacking a little bit of confidence and I think they can do better."

With this loss, Vietnam are now third in the group. Australia, who beat Syria 3-1, and the RoK top the group with three points apiece.

Vietnam will next face Australia on January 14 and Syria on January 17.

For the Southeast Asian region, this is the second time Vietnam and Thailand have competed in the AFC U23 Championship’s final round.