The 41st U20 Asian Cup saw the second round of group matches, and Vietnam's men's soccer team once again created a miracle, finally beating Qatar 2-1 to remain at the top of the group with two consecutive victories and six points, sending Qatar out of the tournament in the early round. China's next match against defending champions Saudi Arabia could see them eliminated in the early round if they lose.
In recent years, relying on solid youth training development, Vietnamese soccer has become a new force in Asian soccer, completely shedding its former status as a fishbowl, especially the men's youth team. two age groups of U20 and U23 are very competitive.
This U20 Asian Cup is Vietnam's 19th appearance in the tournament. The best results were fourth place in 1961 and 2016, never reaching the final. Meanwhile, seven of the last eight matches have stopped at the group stage. After a lackluster pre-tournament, Vietnam made a good start by creating a cold streak in the first round, toppling Australia's favored champions 1-0.
Now facing 2014 champions Qatar in the second round, Vietnam faces the same challenge as Australia. During the match, Qatar were not as strong as they thought they would be and did not create as many threats as Vietnam.
Statistically, Qatar had over 70% possession throughout the game, with only two shots on goal and one shot on target. Vietnam took four shots, two on goal, and completed the shutout in the final minute.
After toppling Australia in the first round and defeating Qatar in the second round, Vietnam is in a very good position to qualify with a draw in the final round.
Vietnam is getting stronger, but China is getting weaker. According to the schedule, China will face defending champion Saudi Arabia at 20:00 pm the day after the second group stage. The two teams participated in the qualifying round in the same group last year. China ended up losing, playing passive defense all over the field. If they lose another game, they could be eliminated in the early round. They have never missed the World Junior Championships for 18 consecutive years. They last played in the World Youth Championship in 2005.
Specific review of the competition -
In first-half stoppage time, Nguyen Van Vinh sent a long ball to Nguyen Quoc Huyet, who got the ball in front of him and cut inside the box, dribbling past a defender and firing a low shot into the goal to help Vietnam take a 1-0 lead.
In the 48th minute, Vietnam again used counterattacks to create threats. Qatari players struggled to defend. Finally, when they fell to the ground, they deliberately blocked the path of the ball with their hands. The referee didn't say anything.
In the 85th minute, Vietnam gave away a penalty inside the penalty area and Ravi took the spot kick to help Qatar equalize 1-1.
In the 90th minute, Nguyen Van Truong received a free kick in the penalty area and scored a header to help Vietnam complete the 2-1 shutout, and the whole team celebrated wildly as if they were as excited as they were winning the championship.
