Vietnam futsal team creates shockwave against world's 7th ranked team

Vietnam futsal team caused a big surprise when they beat Kazakhstan. Photo: VFF.

The Vietnamese futsal team entered the third friendly match in April against a very strong opponent, Kazakhstan - the team ranked 7th in the world, 24 places higher than Vietnam on the FIFA futsal rankings.

The team from Central Asia not only possesses an outstanding technical foundation, but also has many naturalized players of Brazilian origin - most notably goalkeeper Leo Higuita, who is known as the "world's number 1 goalkeeper" in futsal today.

However, the team that played better and opened the score was the Vietnam futsal team. In the 15th minute of the first half, in a situation where Leo Higuita was advancing, Minh Quang seized the opportunity to shoot from home, sending the ball into the empty goal.

Entering the second half, despite still being underestimated, the players in red played very resiliently, maintained their position and organized sharp counterattacks. It was not until the 32nd minute that the away team was able to equalize 1-1 after a beautiful combination that defeated goalkeeper Ho Van Y.

It seemed like the match would end in a draw, but at the decisive moment, something unexpected happened. In the 39th minute, Chau Doan Phat fired a powerful long-range shot that left the Kazakhstan goalkeeper unable to react, helping the Vietnamese futsal team once again take the lead 2-1.

Being forced into a chasing position in the final seconds of the match, Kazakhstan was forced to play a power-play with their goalkeeper high up. However, this tactic did not work, instead they left the goal open and conceded two more goals. One of them was scored by goalkeeper Ho Van Y himself.

The Vietnamese futsal team won an impressive 4-1 victory, creating a real earthquake against the team that had reached the semi-finals of the Futsal World Cup and is currently ranked 7th in the world.

Score

Vietnam: Minh Quang (15'), Doan Phat (39'), Van Y (40'), Cong Vien (40')Kazakhstan: Yerzhan (33').

Source: https://znews.vn/tuyen-futsal-viet-nam-tao-dia-chan-truoc-doi-hang-7-the-gioi-post1545595.html