Thai Son Nam are third in Group B with three points following their 4-3 defeat to Nafit Al Wasat on Friday and Rodrigo stressed that their final group match at Gor Amongrogo is vital for the team to progress to the next stage.

Last year, the Vietnam side lost a match in the group stage but bounced back to qualify for the knockout round and went on to finish third on home soil in Ho Chi Minh City.

As Dalian looked destined for their first win of the tournament, Vamos applied the power play in a last ditch attempt to salvage the tie.

As luck would have, Bagus Himawan came to Vamos’ rescue with less than seven seconds left to send the home fans into a frenzy when he levelled the score to pick up a valuable point for the home side..

Himawan, who did not start the match, scored his third goal of the tournament and was ecstatic.

After an opening day win, Thai Son Nam knew a second win would secure them a spot in the Knockout Stage, while Nafit - who only had one point to their name - needed a win to give them a good chance of progressing.

Thai Son Nam's early aggression paid dividends just two minutes into the game when Ton That Phi’s shot forced Nafit goalkeeper Yahya Abdulnoor Raheem into making a save, but Roberto Tobe Belope then latched onto the rebound to hit home from close range.

Nafit, however, were not ruffled by the early goal and continued to play patiently when in possession, using Thai Son Nam’s heavy pressure to their advantage. By the 15th minute, however, Miguel Rodrigo’s side had to resort to a more defensive strategy after committing five fouls that allowed the Iraqi side to slowly encroach into opposition territory.

After witnessing Nafit Al Wasat’s 4-3 win over Thai Son Nam in the day’s earlier match, Jeonju understood that anything less than a draw meant an early exit and the Koreans eagerly set out to make an impact.

Less than two minutes into the match, Kim In-woo opened the scoring from a difficult position on the left flank with his left-footed strike into the top right corner, courtesy of Lee Young-hoon’s last-ditch pass from the box.

Despite the advantage, it was Al Dhafra who kept the pace of the game, holding the lion’s share of possession and forcing Jeonju goalkeeper Jang Si-won into making multiple saves.

However, Al Dhafra finally broke through Jeonju’s defence with Mohamed Abdulla Fadaaq driving the ball past Jang from close range in the eighth minute, before scoring his second in similar fashion from the same spot a minute later.

The result puts Vamos on four points, three ahead of Dalian who lost 6-1 to three-time champions Nagoya Oceans in their opening match.

Syahidansyah Lubis missed a chance to put Vamos ahead in the first minute when he could not latch onto a weighted pass by Marvin Alexa Wossiry.

Dalian sat back and were cautious to commit players upfront, delivering long balls in the hope of catching Vamos by surprise.

Spurred on by their home supporters, Vamos went ahead in the fourth minute when Lubis squared the ball for Wossiry whose long-range shot took a deflection past Dalian goalkeeper Feng Xiaoyu.

Nagoya lead Group A with maximum points, ahead of Vamos FC on four, while Dalian Yuan Dynasty FC have a point with Victoria bottom.

Pedro Costa’s men, who beat Dalian 6-1 in their opener, stamped their authority early in the match as they held the majority of possession but found it hard to break Victoria down.

As slick as Nagoya were in their passing, Victoria chased every ball down and gave the Japanese little room to operate as goalkeeper Nyi Nyi San was hardly troubled.

Victoria’s best chance came in the 11th minute when Nyein Min Soe fired a low drive just wide off the post.

In the all West Asian affair, both sides applied pressure from the start and were equally matched in possession and attempts on shot.

Nafit’s Farhad Tavakoli came close in the opening minutes but his left-footed shot struck the crossbar.

Thirteen minutes in, Nafit reacted with a counter-attack that saw Tavakoli and Ghodrat Bahadori unmarked in opposition territory, but Bahadori failed to connect a crucial pass in the box.