Under-23s open Agribank Cup with narrow 1-0 victory

The Vietnamese under-23 team wasted many opportunities before beating the Malaysian under-23 opponents 1-0 in their opening match of the Agribank Cup while Thailand proved themselves as top favourites to win the trophy, beating Japanese under-20s 2-0, on October 26.

The Vietnamese under-23s still had five players, Van Quyen, Thanh Binh, Quoc Vuong, Tai Em and Van Truong, who made a significant contribution to a 4-3 victory over Malaysia in the semi-finals of the 22nd SEA Games two years ago.

The Vietnamese side started the match with Van Quyen and Thanh Binh in the forward line, Quoc Anh, Tai Em, Quoc Vuong and Tan Tai in midfield, Van Truong, Bat Hieu, Minh Duc and Hai Lam in defence, and goalkeeper Quang Huy.

After kick-off, Van Truong and Quoc Anh combined on the left flank and Quoc Anh”s cross found Van Quyen”s head but the Malaysian goalkeeper prevented Van Quyen from firing home the opener. Despite creating many opportunities as they were, the Vietnamese under-23 failed to net. Van Quyen wasted two more scoring opportunities. In the fifth minute, Van Quyen, unmarked, could not finish a neat through ball from Quoc Anh. In the 27th minute, Van Quyen failed to run past the final Malaysian defender in the penalty box. The home fans had to wait until the 35th minute to celebrate after Thanh Binh”s finished off Quoc Vuong”s through ball from an impossible angle. Two minutes later, Thanh Binh set up Van Quyen in the penalty box but the striker”s finish was not strong enough to beat the Malaysian goalkeeper.

After the break, Quoc Anh gave an outstanding run, ghosted past a Malaysian defender after a one-touch combination with Thanh Binh, but his finish from a narrow angle was blocked by the Malaysian goalkeeper.

Coach Alfred Riedl brought on Cong Vinh, Van Bien, Vu Phong and Anh Duc to replace Van Quyen, Quoc Anh, Tan Tai and Thanh Binh, but the Vietnamese under-23s failed to improve their finishing effectiveness, continuing to waste golden opportunities.

Talking at a press conference after the match, coach Riedl said he was not satisfied with strikers as they wasted so many opportunities even though his men played not too badly in the match. He went on to say that he was unhappy to see his men poor passing. Answering a question about the strength of the Thai under-23s who beat the Japanese under-20s 2-0 in an earlier match, Mr Riedl said that Thailand were not as strong  as they had been at the pre-SEA Game tournament, in which Thailand won the title in an impressive performance.

While coach Norizan Bin Bakar of Malaysia said that his men did not play well in the first half as they had been called up for training only recently. The coach said that he considered the Agribank Cup an opportunity for his young men to gain experience before competing at the 23rd SEA Games.

Earlier, Pichitphong and Winothai scored to help the under-23s of Thailand beat the under-20s of Japan 2-0.

(Source: Nhandan)