Vietnam, Hoang Anh Gia Lai in U-21 semis
Takehiro Hattori scored the only goal in his team Yokohama FC’s 1-0 win over Vietnam in the second round of the International U-21 Football Tournament on December 22 in HCM City.
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The Japanese needed 10 minutes to break Vietnam’s defence with a solo performance in his second attempt.
The victory strengthened Yokohama’s top position in Group A with two wins and they will meet reigning champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the second-placed team of Group B, in the knock-out stage.
Despite the loss coach Pham Minh Duc and his team secured the second berth to play Group A leader Thailand in the semi-finals as they rank second above Myanmar due to their better goal difference.
Coach Duc said his rivals were too strong as compared to Vietnam. Through the game he knew exactly where Vietnam was on the map of the football world and he learnt a lot from Japan.
Đức also was not satisfied with the performance of his players in the match, and said that the Vietnamese were afraid of their Japanese rivals and did not dare to open an attack.
He said he gave chances to different players such as Bui Tien Dung, Ha Duc Chinh, Ho Tan Tai and Duong Van Hao who will compete at the coming U-20 World Cup, but they did not convince him. In the semi-finals, he would make some changes to improve Vietnam’s strength.
Coach Tomonobu Hayakawa of Yokohama said it was a good result for his team which did not sweat much, thanks to the wrong tactics from the Vietnamese side. But his players should try harder for an improved score against Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the semis.
In a later match of the day, Nguyen Van Toan’s double played a key role in pushing his team Hoang Anh Gia Lai into the semi-final.
The defending champions defeated Gangwon 3-1 to stand second in Group B with four points.
Toan capitalised on a mistake by Gangwon’s goalkeeper to steal the ball and made a straight finish for the opener in the 14th minute.
Four minutes later, Toan received a ball from Vu Van Thanh, leaving two Gangwon defenders to take a shot into the far corner.
The second half was also under Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s control but Gangwon suddenly narrowed the result in the 75th minute by Lee Hemin.
Lee’s shot to the far high corner was too hard for goalie Le Van Truong to save.
National and much loved striker Nguyen Cong Phuong, who lost himself in the previous game, finally found his scoring skills near the end of the match. He broke through Gangwon players to have a close-range tap in.
He confirmed what coach Guillaume Graechen said about him prior to the match “Phuong has never played two bad games in a row.”
