2014 Southeast Asian U-19 Championship

Suffering 2-3 loss to Japan, Vietnam to face Myanmar in semi-finals

Nhan Dan – Despite playing well and scoring the opener, the Vietnam U-19 football team could not conquer one of the most powerful opponents in the region. The team suffered a narrow 2-3 loss to Japan in their last match of Group B at the National My Dinh Stadium on September 9.

Vietnam’s captain Cong Phuong scores a spectacular 'Panenka' penalty to narrow the gap to 2-3 for his home team.
Vietnam’s captain Cong Phuong scores a spectacular 'Panenka' penalty to narrow the gap to 2-3 for his home team.

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Gripping in their hands a ticket to the semi-finals, U-19 Vietnam entered the game with great determination in competing for the first place spot in Group B.

The proof was clearly in the first half, as coach Guillaume Graechen’s players took control of the match in most of the playing time and scored the opener in the 21st minute. Van Toan took the ball from Van Long’s pass, before netting the ball into the far corner, defeating Japan’s goalie Nakamura Kosuke to help U-19 Vietnam take the lead.

Taking advantage of the opener, U-19 Vietnam continued to dominate the game, while U-19 Japan’s defence line played well. The score remained unchanged in favour of hosts Vietnam until the end of the first half.

The slow and ponderous tactics by Japan became more flexible in the second half as they pushed forward for the equaliser.

Effective attacks from both sides and the middle helped players from the land of cherry blossoms to score three consecutive goals in the 57th, 84th and 87th minutes by Ideguchi Yosuke, Nakano Masaomi and Kaneko Shota.

Meanwhile, Vietnam missed the golden opportunities by captain Cong Phuong in the 63rd and 74th minutes. It was not until the 88th minute as Cong Phuong scored a spectacular 'Panenka' penalty shoot to narrow the gap to 2-3, after defender Keisuke Oyama’s foul to Van Toan in the penalty area.

Despite trying their best, the remaining time was not enough for U-19 Vietnam to level the score causing them to suffer a 2-3 defeat.

After the final match of Group B, U-19 Vietnam ranks second with three points, following Japan with six points after two wins.

In the last match of Group A the same day, U-19 Myanmar beat U-19 Indonesia 3-0 to take the lead in Group A. Myanmar will play Vietnam in their semi-final match on Thursday, while Japan will face U-19 Thailand the same day.