Vietnam beat Qatar to make history at U20 Asian Cup

With speed, strength and individual skills, Qatar took control right from the beginning. Ahmed Al Rawi’s head in the right corner in the 5th minute was only blocked by the quick reaction of goalkeeper Cao Van Binh.

Vietnamese players were patiently waiting for opportunities, and two came at the end of the first half. Ho Van Cuong missed his chance to score when facing Qatar’s goalkeeper Amir Hassan Katoul and later had to leave due to an injury. But only a few minutes later Nguyen Quoc Viet received the ball from a left cross and turned it into a goal in the second extra minute.

Vietnam’s goal boosted the spirit of the young Vietnamese players in the second half, with at least three attempts made to score. One of these was an attempt by Nguyen Van Truong, whose shot hit the bar in the 75th minute. Vietnam was not given a penalty when Viet fell within the box.

Qatar, however, got a penalty to even the score when Al Rawi fell from a minor contact from behind by Nguyen Duc Anh within the box. Al Rawi himself took the shot and he did not miss this time.

The Vietnamese players pressed on and their effort was rewarded in the 90th minute when Truong headed backward from a corner shot and scored a goal which was largely unexpected to Qatar’s defense line.

With the previous victory over Australia, Vietnam has now won both games and earned six points. The Southeast Asian team needs to get at least one point in the remaining group stage game against Iran to advance in the tournament.

Winning the first two games at U20 Asian Cup is the best result Vietnam have ever achieved in 64 years of the tournament’s history.

Their next best result was in 2016, also under coach Hoang Anh Tuan, when they earned a win and a draw in the first two games, and then made it into the semifinal to win a slot at the U20 World Cup for the first time.

 

 

Vietnam beat Qatar to make history at U20 Asian Cup

U20 Việt Nam 2-1 U20 Qatar