UAE edge Viet Nam 1-0 at World Cup

Al Hammadi Saaed scored the only goal of the match to help the United Arab Emirates beat Viet Nam in their 2010 World Cup Preliminary Asian Zone game at Ha Noi”s My Dinh National Stadium on Monday.

The win is sweet revenge for the Middle East team that lost 2-0 to Viet Nam in the Asian Cup group competition co-hosted by Viet Nam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia three months ago.

Their UAE team, coached by Frenchman Bruno Metsu, played an aggressive game.

Striker Ismail Matar Ibrahim tested Vietnamese keeper Duong Hong Son 14 minutes into the game when he fired a freekick at the Vietnamese goal from 30m out which Son saved it with his finger tips.

Son again saved another shot 19 minutes into the game from Ismail Matar.

In the second half the UAE speeded up the pace and used the long ball more.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Al Shehl tested keeper Hong Son but the Nghe An-born keeper was up to the challenge.

In the 78th minute Al Hammadi managed to beat the offside trap and fired the ball into the back of the net leaving the keeper stranded.

In the last minutes of the match, Viet Nam”s Nguyen Vu Phong, Minh Phuong and Phung Van Nhien kept the UAE keeper Maqdemi busy.

Viet Nam will play the return leg against the UAE on October 28.

The 2010 World Cup Qualifiers Asian Zone will see 43 teams competing in six rounds for four berths in the World Cup final in South Africa, and another berth for a play-off game with Oceania. VNS