AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers: Vietnam 0-0 Jordan

AFC Asian Cup Qualifying Results and Tables

Both sides had their chances at Thong Nhat Stadium, but were unable to find a breakthrough, with Vietnam grateful to goalkeeper Dang Van Lam.

Jordan added to their opening 7-0 win over Cambodia to retain pole position, one point ahead of the Southeast Asians, who had beaten Afghanistan 1-0 in Phnom Penh earlier in the day.

The result also saw Vietnam remain unbeaten in the final round of qualifying following March’s 1-1 draw with Afghanistan.

The home side made a fast start to the contest, and despite Jordan finding their feet in the game through a series of counterattacks, it was Vietnam who created the first real chance after 24 minutes when a free-kick from captain Dinh Thanh Trung hit the post.

But just four minutes later Jordan responded as Vietnam goalkeeper Van Lam was forced into a save to turn away a header from dangerous striker Hamza Al Dardour.

The end-to-end nature of the contest continued as Jordan goalkeeper Amir Shafi had to gather a long shot from defender Vu Van Thanh at the second attempt a minute later.

Jordan, though, finished the half strongly as Odai Al Saify beat the Vietnam offside trap only for home goalkeeper Van Lam to be alert to the situation by coming off his line quickly.

Vietnam were quick out of the blocks in the second half, and Nguyen Van Quyet attempted to play in fellow forward Nguyen Cong Phuong five minutes after the restart, but unfortunately for the home side, the chance failed to materialise.

A spate of substitutions changed the pace of the game, although Jordan came close to a breakthrough in the closing stages as Munther Abu Amarah first failed to find the target before Saleh Rateb was denied by the excellent Van Lam.