Vietnam are through to the semi-finals of Asian Games 2018 and will meet defending champions Korea Republic next after a 1-0 extra-time win over Syria in the quarter-finals on Monday – Fox Sport Asia reported.
In a keenly-contested encounter at the Patriot Stadium, both sides created their fair share of chances but were unable to find the breakthrough in the 90 minutes.
But, in the 108th minute, Vietnam finally found the breakthrough when Nguyen Anh Duc caught the opposition defence napping as he got in behind to race onto a long ball from the back.
Although his deft flick over the onrushing Ahmad Madyna came back off the bar, fellow substitute Nguyen Van Toan was perfectly placed to finish into the unguarded net.
Although Syria then gave it their all in a bid to equalise and take the game to penalties, the Vietnamese were able to hold out and advance to the semis.
Another tough test awaits Park Hang-seo’s charges in the last four as they take on Korea Republic, who have already 14 goals in four games thus far and boast a formidable attack including Tottenham star Son Heung-min, Red Bull Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-chan and tournament leading scorer Hwang Ui-jo, who has eight goals to his name at present.
SYRIA: Ahmad Madyna, Youssef Al-Hamwi, Jihad Busmar, Hussein Al-Shuayb, Khaled Kurdaghli, Ahmad Ashkar, Mouhamad Anez, Mahmood Al-Baher (Kame Koaeh 74’), Mohammad Al-Marmour, Ahmad Al-Ahmad (Zakria Hannan 112’), Abd Al Rahman Barakat (Abdulhadi Shalha 81’).
VIETNAM: Bui Tien Dung, Vu Van Thanh, Do Duy Manh (Pham Xuan Manh 117’), Tran Dinh Trong, Bui Tien Dung, Doan Van Hau, Nguyen Quang Hai, Pham Duc Huy, Nguyen Cong Phuong (Nguyen Van Toan 82’), Nguyen Van Quyet (Phan Van Duc 60’), Ha Duc Chinh (Nguyen Anh Duc 50’).
By Gabriel Tan