Vietnam lose 0-1 to Indonesia at Asian Cup 2023

Both teams conceded a defeat in their opener several days ago, and a victory in their clash on January 19 would be beneficial to either team.

With Japan unexpectedly losing to Iraq in an earlier group D match, Vietnam enjoyed advantages in the race to advance to the knockout round, but they failed to grasp the opportunity.

In the first minutes, Indonesian players increased their pressure, forcing their Vietnamese opponents to retreat to their own field.

Even when Vietnamese players regained control of the match, they still found it hard to launch attacks.

Defenders still played without concentration and made mistakes, leading to Indonesia’s only goal.

Indonesia were awarded a penalty kick following Thanh Binh’s foul in the penalty area, and Asnawi defeated Filip Nguyen, a naturalized goalkeeper who replaced No1 goalie Dang Van Lam suffering from an injury.

Coach Philippe Troussier immediately sent in some of his hopefuls in the second half, hoping to make change and earn an equalizer.

However, the Vietnamese players could not break up the Indonesian defensive line that performed brilliantly.

Difficulties arose when Thanh Long got his second yellow card from the referee, meaning he was forced to leave the field.

With only 10 men on the field, the Vietnamese team could not score a goal and conceded a 0-1 defeat in the end.

The loss sent Vietnam to the bottom of Group D and put an end to their Asian Cup 2023 campaign, though they have the last group match against Iraq that stunned defending champions Japan 2-1 on the same day.