Vietnam was eliminated in the group stage of U20 Asia
Vietnam needs a good enough result against Iran, or Australia doesn't win against Qatar. Neither of the above two things happened, leaving the ticket to go on to Iran and Australia. The outcome was somewhat grim for Vietnam, after teachers and students Hoang Anh Tuan won the first two matches against strong opponents, and played fair with Iran in the last round.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan put two pillars Nguyen Van Truong and Nguyen Quoc Viet on the bench, in the hope that they can create a breakthrough in the second half. Even if Vietnam did not keep a clean sheet in the first half as desired by the 55-year-old strategist, his calculations were still correct. Van Truong helped Vietnam no longer be inferior to the opponent in the midfield, while Quoc Viet initiated the equalizer. But in the end, the loss of physical strength made Vietnam unsustainable. Hoang Anh Tuan's students could not keep up with the players who substituted on the opponent's side, losing two goals in the last 15 minutes.
Vietnam overcame the pressure of the opponent at the beginning of the match, thanks to the excellence of goalkeeper Cao Van Binh. Even the Southeast Asian representative nearly surpassed in the 13th minute, when captain Khuat Van Khang took a free kick to hit the post, then hit the Iranian goalkeeper and went all the way across. The ball seems to signal a bad day for Vietnam. By the end of the half, Iran opened the scoring from a free-kick on the left wing, when defender Hazbavi shot high to hit the net.
Australia led Qatar 4-1 after only the first half, leaving Vietnam in a position of being forced to score or lose 2-3 to Iran to continue. The reinforcement named Quoc Viet and Van Truong soon came into play at the beginning of the second half. Quoc Viet poked a gap just enough for Hong Phuc to cross on the right side. Van Truong could not finish from Hong Phuc's return line, but Khuat Van Khang was present at the right time to cushion the ball to score. Vietnam equalized 1-1 and will continue if this result is maintained.
Minutes later, Vietnam actively defended, causing Iran to create almost no clear opportunities. But everything changed when the representative of West Asia changed. The speed of the new players on the pitch helps Iran make the difference. In the 75th minute, Estamlabab made a clever breakthrough on the right wing, overcame Duc Anh and then passed into the penalty area for Saharkhizan to cushion the ball with one touch, raising the score to 2-1 for Iran.
Vietnam fell into a chasing position. Hoang Anh Tuan's students showed their brave fighting spirit at the end of the game, when they constantly made goalkeeper Razei show his talent. After Quoc Viet missed a header from five meters away, it was Van Khang's turn to not beat the Iranian goalkeeper in the high corner.
Putting the whole squad up in the extra minutes, Vietnam received a lance recovery. The player who replaced Hosseinnezhad sped up, then finished diagonally to defeat goalkeeper Van Binh. Leading 1-3, but Vietnam will still go through if they score a goal. Things could have been different, if the referee had awarded Vietnam a penalty in the situation where Quoc Viet fell in the penalty area.
The match ended in the hearts of Hoang Anh Tuan's students, when the referee refused to blow the penalty in the last seconds. Vietnam has the same six points as Iran and Australia, but only ranks third due to poor sub-index (confrontation between three teams). Australia - the team that won Qatar 9-1 in the last leg - joined Iran in the quarterfinals. In the round of eight strongest teams, the winning team will win tickets to the U20 World Cup taking place in May 2023 in Indonesia.
