Vietnam ease past India to win friendly tournament

Unlike the previous game with Singapore, head coach Park Hang-seo fielded a star-studded lineup against India. The team struggled in the first five minutes and let the opponent pushed forward. But Vietnam got the goal early right in their first chance. The 10th-minute corner of Nguyen Cong Phuong forced India keeper Gurpeet Sandhu to push the ball out and it found Phan Van Duc, who volleyed into the net and open the scoring. Since that moment, Vietnam controlled the game.

Phan Van Duc (number 20) celebrates the opening goal in the friendly between Vietnam and India on September 27, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

India’s best chance was at the last minute of the first half when captain Sunil Chhetri’s header went off target just a bit.

In the second half, Park put Cong Phuong out for Nguyen Van Toan and it only took four minutes for the substitution to make an impact. Toan’s impressive pace was able to exploit India’s defensive mistakes. In the 49th minute, defender Anwar Ali lost the ball to Toan who ran straight into box, before getting a clean finish that gave the keeper no chance. This marked Toan’s first goal for the national team since March 2017.

After leading 2-0, chances kept coming to Vietnam. Coach Park subbed in more quality players and they proved their worth. In the 72nd minute, Bui Hoang Viet Anh made a cross from the right flank to Nguyen Van Quyet, who had a clean first touch on the ball and scored easily.

The score would have been higher if not for the talent of Sandhu, who denied many shots from Vietnam attackers. The game ended 3-0 for Vietnam and the team won the tournament without conceding a goal.

They won 4-0 against Singapore on September 21.

 

 

Vietnam ease past India to win friendly tournament

Việt Nam 3-0 Ấn Độ