HCMC - Vietnam’s U-23 football team were defeated 2-6 by Turkmenistan in the second game of the men’s football event in the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD) at Guangdong People’s Stadium on Wednesday, while Iran beat Bahrain 1-0 in their second game of Group B.
Vietnam’s coach Phan Thanh Hung wanted his side to grasp their place in the next round with a positive performance against Turkmenistan. Hung said before the game that he believed his players would beat their opponents.
Prior to the game, the Vietnamese side defeated Bahrain 3-1 in the opener while Turkmenistan suffered 1-4 loss to powerhouse Iran in their opening game.
The Vietnamese side would be keen to get the group’s second spot and their players were confident of victory against their rivals. Moreover, coach Phan Thanh Hung’s players just needed a draw for reaching the next round.
The Vietnamese side began the game with a changed lineup after a 3-1 win over Bahrain U23 in their opener. Defender Nguyen Thanh Long Giang made his debut at the tournament.
Vietnam had better scoring opportunities in the first minutes of the half, as forwarders Nguyen Ngoc Dieu and Pham Thanh Luong nearly opened for their team in the fifth and sixth minutes but their kicks crossed over the goalpost.
Turkmenistan surprisingly took an advance in the 17th minute when Serdar scored for the Western Asian side in a rapid attack. Turkmenistan increased pressure after the first goal and Aleksandr easily defeated Vietnamese goalie Bui Tan Truong in the 24th minute, ending the first half with 2-0.
Turkmenistan dominated ball possession throughout the second half while the home side relied on rare counter attacks. Belyh Maksim netted for his team with a header just four minutes into the second half and then Arslanmyrat helped the opponents advance further again in the 62nd minute.
Aleksadr scored his second goal in the 73rd minute before Arslanmyrat scored the sixth goal for Turkmenistan in the 82nd minute, giving his team the first victory in the group of the competition.
Vietnam controlled the ball in the last minutes as their forwarders put more pressure on their opponents. Nguyen Trong Hoang and Nguyen Anh Duc scored for the Vietnamese side in the 85th and 87th minutes but it was too late to level the scoring gap.
Iran confirmed their place in the last 16 round of the men’s football event in the ASIAD as they secured Group B’s top spot with six points from first two wins. Turkmenistan and Vietnam have three points from one win and one loss but the Western Asian side rank second thank to the goal difference. Bottom-placed Bahrain have no point from two games.
With a victory, Turkmenistan kept their hope of reaching the next round as they will play Bahrain in the final game on Saturday while Vietnam face huge tasks in their group competition as they will face leaders Iran in the final game on the same day.
Vietnam were in Group B along with three of the Western Asia strongest teams: Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan. The men’s football event of the ASIAD 2010 will see 24 teams compete in six groups with the top two teams of each group and four best third-placed teams being qualifying for the last 16 round.
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