Outstanding features of Vietnamese men’s football in 2018
VOV.VN - Vietnamese national team’s second position at AFC U23 Champs, fourth position at ASIAD and champion at AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 are impressive events from men’s football this year.
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| Vietnam’s U23s were seen as the minnows of Group D, which featured the might of Australia, Syria, and the Republic of Korea U23s. |
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| In their first match at the group stages, coach Park Hang Seo’s team faced the RoK U23s - runner up at AFC Champ 2016. The outstanding strength of the RoK U23s eventually came to bear and the match ended in a 2-1 defeat for Vietnam U23s. |
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| Coach Park Hang Seo’s team next faced another strong opponent in Australia U23s. The team beat Australia 1-0 to take a momentous win. |
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| In their final match of Group D, Vietnam U23s faced Syria. Vietnam U23s played out a scoreless draw with Syria. The result meant the team had 4 points after 3 matches and took second place in Group D, giving them a historic place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U23 Championship 2018. |
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| In the quarter-finals, Vietnam U23s met a very strong team in Iraq’s U23s. Vietnam’s players took the game to Iraq in an exciting match which ended 3-3 after 90 minutes and extra time. Vietnam continued their dream journey at the AFC U23 Championship by beating Iraq 5-3 on penalty shootout. |
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| In the semi-finals, Vietnam U23s faced Qatar, a favourite for the 2018 AFC championship title. In another miracle victory, Vietnam U23s won 4-3 on penalties against Qatar U23s. |
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| In the final match, Vietnam U23s lost to Uzbekistan U23s 2-1 and ranked second position finally in the AFC Championship 2018. |
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| On August 14, Vietnam defeated Pakistan 3-0 in their first match at ASIAD 2018 in Indonesia. |
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| Vietnam took their second win in their next match, beating Nepal 2-0 on August 16. |
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| Vietnam beat Japan 1-0 in their third and final match of the group stage on August 19. |
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| Vietnam beat Bahrain 1-0 on August 23. |
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| Vietnam took another 1-0 win over Syria on August 27. |
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| Vietnam’s fortunes changes in the semi-finals as they lost 3-1 to the Republic of Korea on August 29. |
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| Vietnam drew 1-1 with UAE over 90 minutes before losing 4-3 on penalties in the third-place play-off on September 1. |
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| Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai was voted president of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) for the 2018-2022 term. |
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| At ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2018, Vietnam was drawn in group A with Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. They started with a bang, beating Laos 3-0 in an away match. |
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| In their second match, Vietnam won 2-0 despite Malaysia dominating the ball possession and number of attempt shots. |
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| Vietnam had a scoreless draw with Myanmar in the third match. |
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| In their last group stage match, Vietnam defeated Cambodia 3-0. |
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| The national team triumphed against the Philippines 4-2 in semi-finals. |
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| Vietnam lifted the AFF Suzuki Cup trophy again after 10 years, beating Malaysia 1-0 in the second-leg final of the tournament that took place at My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi, on December 15 night. |
