Iraq 3 – 2 Vietnam: Cruel extra time
Vietnam team unfortunately lost 2-3 to Iraq in extra time, even though at the end of the first half we took the lead. This is the 4th time in history that the Vietnam team lost to this opponent in the last minute of the match. However, coach Troussier and his team had a commendable match.
25/01/2024 11:13:57
Vietnam entered the game quite confidently with quite rhythmic bounces. In the 17th minute, Vietnam blew the opponent’s net when midfielder Zaid Tahseen “scored his own net” after Minh Trong’s cross. Referee Nasaruddin checked VAR and did not accept the goal. In the 38th minute, Zidane received the ball after a hit in the penalty area and turned to shoot, but the ball went right to Nguyen Filip’s position.
In the 41st minute, Vietnam suddenly scored when Viet Anh ran down and hit goalkeeper Ahmed Basil. Before that, Van Khang had an accurate free kick that contributed greatly to his teammates scoring a goal. Unfortunately, it was Van Khang who received the second yellow card when he fouled his opponent. Vietnam national team only played with 10 people on the field when the second half started.
Coach Troussier brought in Van Toan to replace Dinh Bac. While Iraq also brought star Jassim Ali to the field. Very quickly, Iraq scored a 1-1 equalizer in the 47th minute. After a corner kick, midfielder Rebin Ghareed jumped higher than everyone else and headed the ball, causing Nguyen Filip to give up. Iraq showed the determination to win 3 points by continuing to include stars like Ibraheem Bayesh or captain Aymen Hussein.
The rest of the time, Iraq played dominantly, using many high ball situations to cross the ball inside. In the 73rd minute, from a situation on the right wing, Jassim Ali easily eliminated Xuan Manh before accurately crossing the ball for Aymen Hussein to head in to increase the score to 2-1 for Iraq.
Terrible pressure was created and Iraq was awarded a penalty when Viet Anh fouled Youssef in the penalty area. Luckily, Aymen Hussein kicked the ball against the post. Many situations were created by Iraq but they did not score a goal when the clock turned to the 90th minute.
The match had more than 10 minutes of extra time and surprisingly, right at the 90+1′ minute, Vietnam scored a spectacular 2-2 equalizer. Van Toan received the ball and passed it to Thanh Binh for a tactical header and Quang Hai had a decisive kick that forced goalkeeper Ahmed Basil to go into the net to pick up the ball. Unfortunately, in the last seconds of extra time, Minh Trong fouled inside the penalty area and this time Aymen Hussein did not miss, setting the score 3-2 for Iraq.
Ending the journey at the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnam team will return home tomorrow (January 25). The team is divided into 2 groups, the first group will arrive at Noi Bai airport (Hanoi) at 12:25 on the same day. The second group will be present in Hanoi at 7:10 a.m. on January 26.
According to the plan, the team will reunite in mid-March to prepare for the trip to Indonesia, within the framework of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
