Vietnam lose to Uzbekistan in crowdless friendly
The Vietnam national football team have lost their second consecutive friendly, in a behind-closed-doors match against Uzbekistan on October 13.
Goals from Oston Uronov and Khusniddin Alikulov sealed a comfortable 2-0 win for Srecko Katanec's team, while Philippe Troussier's Vietnam had no answers, with not a single shot on target.
As the match was deemed just a friendly, Troussier made multiple changes to the side that lost 0-2 to China on October 10, with only Do Hung Dung, Do Duy Manh, Truong Tien Anh and Pham Tuan Hai remaining.
Vietnam tried to play from the back, but were met with resistance and tough challenges from Uzbekistan. One such challenge led to Nguyen Quang Hai's injury and early substitution in the 17th minute.
Eleven minutes later, Uzbekistan got the opening goal, courtesy of a great solo effort from Oston Uronov, who dribbled past two Vietnamese players from the left wing, and fired a great shot into the far corner of Nguyen Dinh Trieu's net.
The Uzbeks kept control for almost the entirety of the match, and doubled their lead in the 66th minute. From a set piece, Alikulov rose above five Vietnamese players and headed in perfectly to seal the match 2-0 for Uzbekistan.
"I am not surprised that we lost today," said coach Troussier, "I am not happy with the transition plays from the team."
With this result, Vietnam have lost to two oppositions in Asia's top eight, and will have much more work to do before meeting Jurgen Klinsmann's the Republic of Korea side on October 17, who just beat Tunisia 4-0.
