Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Changshu: Vietnam coach Park Hang-Seo insists his players have proven their ability against Asia’s elite after reaching the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Championship 2018 with a penalty shootout win over Iraq on Saturday.
Vietnam defeated the former champions 5-3 penalties after an extraordinary 120 minutes of action ended in a 3-3 draw that saw the lead change three times before Park’s players advanced via the shootout.
The win highlighted the progress being made by the Vietnamese, who saw off Australia in the group phase before defeating a nation that won the first edition of the competition and who went on to finish third – and qualify for the Olympic Games – in 2016.
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Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Changzhou: With Vietnam joining Korea Republic, Qatar and Uzbekistan in the AFC U23 Championship 2018 semi-finals, join the-AFC.com as we take a look at how each side reached the last four.
AFC U23 Championship semi-final fixtures (kick-off times are local):
Qatar v Vietnam
Venue: Changzhou Olympic Sports Center
Date: January 23
Kick-off: 1600 hrs
Uzbekistan v Korea Republic
Venue: Kunshan Sports Center
Date: January 23
Kick-off: 1930 hrs
Qatar
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Changshu: Bashar Resan’s miss from the penalty spot earned Vietnam a place in the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Championship 2018 on Saturday as Park Hang-seo’s side defeated former champions Iraq 5-3 in a penalty shootout after an extraordinary 3-3 draw following extra-time.
Resan’s attempt to float his penalty down the middle of the goal in the opening round of spot-kicks failed to fool goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and the Vietnamese goalkeeper calmly collected the ball in his arms to, ultimately, seal Vietnam’s victory.
The shootout brought a remarkable game to a tense conclusion and sends Vietnam into the last four for the first time ever, and they will take on Qatar in the semi-finals in Changzhou on Tuesday.
Iraq went into the game in confident mood after topping Group D and dictated the opening exchanges but, with Vietnam’s defensive discipline to the fore in the early exchanges, there was little Abdulghani Shahad’s side could do to find a way through.
Indeed, it was the Vietnamese who took the lead with just 12 minutes on the clock after Iraq’s defence failed to clear a corner. The ball fell to Phan Van Duc, whose mis-hit attempt at an overhead kick landed at the feet of Nguyen Cong Phuong, who scored past Ahmed Basil from inside the six-yard box.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kunshan: Goal scorer Cho Jae-wan feared his early strike against Malaysia might backfire on him and his teammates before Korea Republic eventually saw off Ong Kim Swee’s side to book their place in the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Championship 2018 on Saturday.
Cho scored with less than 12 seconds on the clock to record the fastest goal of the tournament so far, but the Koreans still needed Han Seung-gyu’s 85th minute winner to see off the determined Southeast Asians.
“We thought it would be an easy game because we scored after less than a minute,” said the Seoul E-Land midfielder.
“Maybe we thought it would be too easy and that was a problem for us, but we’ve gained a lot of energy from the victory itself and we plan to prepare well for the next game so we can do well.”