Iraq ends Viet Nam"s Asian Cup fairy tale

Viet Nam”s historic run in the AFC Asian Cup ended on Saturday night at Bangkok”s national Rajamangala Stadium after losing 2-0 to a physically imposing Iraq in the quarterfinals.

Captain Younis Mahmoud scored twice for Iraq, who now move into the tournament”s semi finals for the first time since 1976.

Viet Nam Coach Alfred Riedl said the biggest worry for his players leading up to the match was Iraq”s height and strength.

“Our opponents tonight were very strong, and we could not do better to change things,” said Riedl in a post-match press conference.

“Iraq deserve the win and if we played at home in My Dinh with 40,000 fans, we could not have done any better – players were not given any real chances to get close to the Iraqi goal.

“We did well in the early minutes after the break, but the second goal by Iraq practically sealed the match.”

Iraq seemed more relaxed after cruising through the group stage with a 3-1 win over tournament favourites Australia and draws against hosts Thailand and Oman.

Viet Nam, who were playing in their first Asian Cup in 47 years, was quite the opposite. The team struggled through, defeating the United Arab Emirates 2-0 and drawing Qatar 1-1 before losing 4-1 to defending champions Japan.

“After taking on all those strong teams, the players were not at full strength to do something better tonight, but they did their best. We are a small team who cannot force an upset over stronger opponents all the time,” said Riedl.

In the second minute, a long pass by Nashat Akram into the penalty area found an unmarked Mahmoud, who headed the ball into the net. The early goal shocked the young Vietnamese side, which is on average 23 years old, against the more experienced Iraqis.

Viet Nam did not manage a shot on goal until the 19th minute, as Iraq settled into a comfortable defensive rhythm led by Jasim Mohammed Gholam.

With five players piled into the midfield, including Akram, Iraq controlled the centre and capitalised on their height advantage with volleys over the Viet Nam defenders. The midfield wall frustrated Viet Nam”s captain Nguyen Minh Phuong, who found it difficult to team up with his partner Phung Cong Minh in attack.

Riedl made three changes last night, which did not impact the game significantly.

Chau Phong Hoa was frozen out on the left wing, while Minh had to play defence to backup the midfielders. Forward Nguyen Anh Duc could not get in sync with the rest of the team after a long stay on the bench.

Iraq were the more organised team and were always on attack, spreading the ball around the field and pressuring the Vietnamese defence, which never looked comfortable against their stronger opponents.

Riedl”s plan of “defending with 11 players and attacking with five” was ruined after Iraq”s early goal.

Viet Nam”s only real chance came just before half-time. A break down on the left wing saw the ball cut back to Nguyen Vu Phong. His shot, though, was deflected by defenders protecting the goal line.

Iraq continued to press forward after the break and doubled their lead in the 65th minute when Mahmoud fired a free kick over the Viet Nam wall, beyond goalie Duong Hong Son”s reach in the top left corner of the net.

Mahmoud almost made it a hat-trick two minutes later when Mahdi Karim found him free in the area, but shot over the crossbar.

Iraq”s Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira did not let his players celebrate for long as they prepare for a semi final match in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday against South Kore a who defeated Iran on penalties yesterday.

Riedl, who is in his third spell as Viet Nam”s coach, will travel home to Austria for a checkup after his kidney transplant a few months ago. He plans to return and coach the Beijing Olympic team.

VNS