Vietnam to play Saudi Arabia in U23 Asian Cup quarterfinals

On Thursday night, Saudi Arabia won 2-0 against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to top group D, above Japan thanks to a better goal difference although both teams have four points.

Saudi Arabia will face Vietnam, who are second in group C, while Japan plays South Korea, who tops group C.

“I haven’t watched Vietnam play, but it surely won’t be an easy game. They managed to get past the group stage, so definitely not a weak team,” Saudi Arabia coach Saad Al-Shehri said after the Thursday game.

After the game with UAE, Saudi Arabia won’t have the service of two key players in the quarterfinals due to an excess of yellow cards in the group stage.

But Al-Shehri is not worried.

“My team have many other good players and I believe they can defeat any opponent. I don’t know anything about Vietnam in this tournament, but we have time and we will do our research carefully,” he said.

Vietnam and Saudi Arabia will play the quarterfinals on Sunday at 11 p.m. (Hanoi time). The game will be reported live on VnExpress International.