>>> Int’l media: Vietnam make history in World Cup qualifiers
>>> National pride as Vietnam advance in World Cup qualifiers
>>> Vietnam make history with first-ever slot in final round of World Cup qualifiers
The impressive journey in the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia for coach Park Hang-seo and his players has ended, as Vietnam held their heads high to win their first-ever slot in final round of World Cup qualifiers, after a brave match against the UAE in the last match of Group G. Despite losing narrowly 2-3 to the hosts, the Golden Stars still showed their fighting spirit to affirm their position in the continental playground.
In their summary of the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia posted on the FIFA’s homepage, the most powerful body in world football gave the Vietnamese team many compliments.
“The curtain finally came down on Asia’s second round of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar with the last 12 line-up complete after the closing matchday. Eight teams shored up their passage on Tuesday – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Lebanon, China and Vietnam – to join the already-qualified Japan, Australia, Syria and the Republic of Korea in the third round. Vietnam proved the biggest surprise packages by sealing their maiden progression to the third round,” the FIFA article read.
Attached to the title of the article describing the historical victory of the Vietnamese team, FIFA also chose to post a representative photo for its article – an image of Vietnamese striker Nguyen Tien Linh celebrating a goal with his teammates.
This is really a great honour for Vietnamese football to be part of the whole continent's second round campaign, helping convey information about Vietnamese football to millions of football fans across the world.
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Information about the Vietnamese team proudly appears in the FIFA article. (Screenshot captured)
After finishing their impressive journey in Group G in the second round, Vietnam progressed as one of the five best runners-up teams. According to FIFA's assessment, this is a breakthrough for Vietnamese football.
“This campaign saw the emergence of Vietnam, who made history by sealing their maiden progression into the third round. Having reached the last eight in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the team continued to make progress on the continental stage under coach Park Hang-seo. Entering the back-end of the campaign as group leaders, the Vietnamese registered back-to-back victories against Indonesia and Malaysia and advanced as one of the best second placed finishers, despite narrowly losing to hosts UAE 3-2 in the final match,” FIFA wrote.
One among many outstanding players who made an important contribution to this historic feat is Tien Linh, who consecutively scored in all three matches of the Vietnamese team in the UAE. FIFA's article also devoted a whole paragraph to praising the Vietnamese striker.
“A host of players stepped into the spotlight to help their respective teams through. Notable among them was 23-year-old striker Nguyen Tien Linh, who struck four times, including scoring the match-winning goal in the first-leg meeting against UAE, to help his side achieve breakthrough progress,” according to FIFA.
Despite losing narrowly to the UAE in the last match of Group G, the team still achieved a miracle under coach Park Hang-seo. In the third qualifying round, Park's side will join the mighty Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia to compete in the group of the 12 strongest teams across the continent.
According to the announcement from FIFA, the draw for the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia will be held on July 1. The 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six.
They will battle against each other across seven months from September 2 this year to March 29, 2022, with the top two in each group qualifying for Qatar 2022, while the two third-placed teams will advance to a fourth round play-off.
