The Vietnamese Olympic team stopped at the ASIAD 19 group stage
Losing 1-3 to the Saudi Arabia Olympic team in the final match in the group stage, the Vietnam Olympic team had to say goodbye to men’s football at ASIAD 19 when they could not appear in the top 4 third-place teams who have the better performance in groups.
25/09/2023 09:14:10
With a higher rated strength, it is not surprising that the Saudi Arabia Olympic Games came forward with a strong attack right after the opening whistle. The West Asian team created enormous pressure on the field of the Vietnam Olympic Games and continuously created dangerous situations.
On the Vietnam side, due to early anticipation of the inferior force ratio compared to their opponent’s team, coach Hoang Anh Tuan directed his players to set lower squad, try to play with maximum concentration and support each other to minimize mistakes that often happen in the first minutes of the match. This is what helped the Vietnam Olympic team stand firm against waves of attacks from the opposing team. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan’s players were even confident in holding the ball and looking for opportunities to attack in response. A typical example is Xuan Tien’s shot at a tight angle but could not beat the opponent’s goalkeeper in the 8th minute, or Minh Trong’s corner kick in the 36th minute, sending the ball across the goal but unfortunately, Nam Hai and Xuan Tien could not touch the ball.
However, in general, Saudi Arabia still shows complete dominance. Their opening goal in the 43rd minute was the inevitable consequence of a series of created opportunities. It’s a bit of a pity for the Vietnam Olympic team not to be able to preserve their home net so they could have more room for consideration in the second half. But only conceding one goal to the fierce attack of the other team also recognized the resilient fighting spirit of the Vietnam Olympic players.
In the second half, coach Hoang Anh Tuan sent Vo Nguyen Hoang onto the field to replace Dinh Xuan Tien, then Khuat Van Khang, Nguyen Thai Son, and Bui Vi Hao to replace Nguyen Duc Viet and Nguyen Thanh Nhan and Nguyen Quoc Viet. Adjusting personnel is necessary to take advantage of the new players’s physical strength entering the field as well as hopefully creating a change in the playing style of the Vietnam Olympic Games.
On the other hand, despite having the lead, Saudi Arabia Olympic still maintained the pace of play and continued to control the match. The continuous wind and waves in front of Vietnam’s Olympic goal forced goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan to operate at full capacity and excellently blocked many shots from his opponent’s team.
However, the Vietnam Olympic defense was finally broken as the match reached the final minutes. First was the situation where Marran escaped to receive the ball from his teammate and then finished neatly to increase the score to 2-0 for Saudi Olympic in the 87th minute, followed by Zakaria’s escape and finish, widening the gap 3 goals for the West Asian team in the last minute of official competition.
In the few extra minutes, coach Hoang Anh Tuan’s team were somewhat consoled for their efforts when they scored an honorable goal in the 90+4 minute, after a pressure situation that caused the opposing team’s defender to hit the own goal.
Losing the match 1-3 along with the match result of Myanmar and India ending with a score of 1-1, the Vietnam Olympic team was outside the top 4 third-place teams with better performance in the groups. This means coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team have to say goodbye to ASIAD 19.
For fans who have always placed high expectation on the team, this may be a sad melody, but for the players, it is not entirely just a failure, because precious matches against big opponents like Iran and Saudi Arabia at a big playground like ASIAD will certainly help them become mature. That is also the main target we are aiming for when sending the main force, U20 players, to attend this year’s Asian Games.
