Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo demonstrated his ambition to decide the match in 90 minutes by naming most of his best attackers in the starting lineup, including midfielders Quang Hai and Xuan Truong, and two veteran forwards, Van Quyet and Anh Duc.
Qualifying for the knockout stage as the group winners, the “yellow stars” started the match against underdogs Bahrain confidently and successfully set the pace of the game during the first 30 minutes.
Park Hang-seo’s side threatened the Bahrain goal after just five minutes, with Quang Hai driving a shot narrowly off post from Van Quyet’s pass.
Van Duc missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring for Vietnam at the half hour mark, as he failed to deliver a close-range finish in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Ammar Mohamed Ahmed.
After a slow start, Bahrain began to reply with a number of dangerous attacks towards the Vietnamese goal.
Seven minutes from half time, Vietnamese keeper Bui Tien Dung made a smart save as he used his leg to block Marhoon’s shot in a one on one. Just one minute later, Bahrain went on to produce another threat, with Ahmedi’s strike from the edge of the box going over the crossbar.
With only a few minutes to play for the first half, Bahrain were left with only ten men on field after Sanad Ahmed was sent off following his brutal infringement over Vietnam’s Van Thanh.
Despite such a disadvantage, Bahrain surprised with constant attacks after the break, putting up pressure on the Vietnamese side.
The Western Asian team could even have broke the deadlock in the 64th minute if Marhoon’s powerful freekick was not denied by the crossbar.
With Vietnam failing to break through Bahrain’s solid defence, Park Hang-seo decided to put forwards Cong Phuong and Van Toan onto the field, seeking to strengthen Vietnam U23’s offensive power.
Park’s substitutions proved effective as the presence of Cong Phuong and Van Toan made Vietnam’s attacks become more flexible and diverse, forcing the Bahrain side to work hard in resistance.
In an attacking situation two minutes from over time, Van Toan curled a pass into the box, only to see his attempt blocked by central back Alshamsan. However, Alshamsan’s careless handling made the ball find Cong Phuong, and the favourite striker punished such a serious mistake of the Bahrain side by slotting in a decisive goal for Vietnam U23.
The 1-0 score remained unchanged till the final whistle, which meant Park’s side have officially booked a place in the Asiad quarterfinals for the first time in history.
Next up for Vietnam U23 will be an August 27 quarterfinal clash with Syria, who edged out Palestine 1-0 in another Round of 16 match earlier today.
