Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Cibinong: The United Arab Emirates won the 2018 Asian Games Indonesia men's football bronze medal, defeating Vietnam 4-3 on penalties after the play-off match had ended 1-1.
It was the third shootout win for the UAE, who also defeated Indonesia (Round of 16) and DPR Korea (quarter-finals) on penalties before falling to Japan in the semi-finals.
It was a heartbreaking defeat for Vietnam - having already made history by reaching the last four for the first time since the country’s unification - who were hoping to end their campaign with the bronze after losing to Korea Republic in the semi-finals.
However, it was UAE who claimed the early advantage when Ahmad Al Hashmi latched onto a stray ball, surged down the middle, evaded several Vietnamese players before unleashing a right-footed strike into the bottom right of the net in the 17th minute for a fine individual goal.