January 15, 2018 | 20:57 (GMT+7)
Vietnam beats Australia 1-0 in 2018 AFC U23 Championship
PANO – Midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai’s second half goal earned Vietnam a 1-0 win over Australia in the AFC U23 Championship 2018 on January 14.
Despite being very much an underdog in the group, Vietnamese players were really confident when starting their second match.
Vietnam wasted several chances in the first half.
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Midfielder Hai (C) brings historic win to Vietnam |
In the second, after other chances, Vietnam successfully had a goal. The ball ran around in Australian box with several inaccurate shots from the Vietnamese side. Then, the ball went to Hai, who made a straight kick to beat goalkeeper Paul Izzo at the 72nd minute.
Australia also had their chances, but all attempts were denied by Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung.
This was a historic 1-0 victory of Vietnam, opening a door to all Group D teams competing in the quarter-finals. On Wednesday, Vietnam will play Syria, who did just enough to keep their hopes of a place in the quarter-finals after securing a 0-0 draw with South Korea in a late Sunday match.
Vietnam head coach Park Hang-seo shared: “I want to dedicate this victory to the Vietnamese people. I promised we would do something special but this is just the start. I want to thank the players and my staff, they did everything I asked them to do. We have one match left and from tomorrow we have to concentrate on that game. We always believed we can win the game. We don't know in advance what the result will be, but we prepare to win. Every team has good points and of course today, we were lucky.”
Translated by Chung Anh