Both U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand have reached the semi-finals with one round to spare. After three matches, coach Philippe Troussier and his team have the same 9 points as U22 Thailand, but are ranked second due to a lower goal difference (+5 compared to +7). Although the match is a formality, it will decide the top spot in the group, thereby giving them the right to choose U22 Indonesia (first in Group A) or U22 Myanmar (second in Group A) in the semi-finals.
U22 Vietnam starting lineup
But with a long-term plan for the semi-finals, both U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand fielded their B-teams and kept many key players on the bench. Coach Philippe Troussier sent Ngoc Thang, Nhat Nam, Xuan Tien, Van Khang, Van Truong and goalkeeper Huy Hoang onto the field from the start, while key players such as Van Tung, Thanh Nhan, Tien Long and Tuan Tai sat on the bench. Meanwhile, Thailand's coach Issara also replaced 7 key players compared to the 4-1 win over Laos.
U22 Vietnam had a bad start when in the 2nd minute, a mistake by central defender Duy Cuong created an opportunity for U22 Thailand to open the score. After conceding the goal, U22 Vietnam responded with continuous attacks. U22 Vietnam created 2 dangerous opportunities. First, in the 14th minute, Van Khang passed from the left wing to the second post for Van Do to rush down to the sideline and cross inside, but no player in red shirt was able to finish. Three minutes later, Van Cuong crossed the ball from the left wing into the penalty area, Van Khang was there to make a header that missed the post by a hair.
U22 Vietnam found the equalizer
Unable to take advantage of the opportunity, U22 Vietnam almost conceded a goal in the 25th minute. In a counter-attack, striker Achitpol passed the ball to his teammate, then escaped to the right penalty area and shot low across the corner, but Huy Hoang dived to push it away. In the following time of the first half, there were no more notable attacks from the two teams. The result of the first half was 1-0 in favor of U22 Thailand.
The relentless efforts of U22 Vietnam were rewarded right at the beginning of the second half. In the 54th minute, from Van Khang's free kick, the Thai goalkeeper could not catch it, a little chaos in the penalty area and the ball came to Nhat Nam's feet, this player fired a left-footed shot past the opposing goalkeeper to equalize the score 1-1.
The red shirt players played better in the second half.
Thanks to this goal, U22 Vietnam's play became more fluid. Quang Thinh and his teammates controlled the ball more, made more precise attacks, and created some opportunities but the red-shirted strikers failed to take advantage of them. The most regrettable situation was in the 74th minute, Van Khang's free kick hit the target but goalkeeper Thirawooth proactively made a brilliant prediction, cutting in a clear loss for the home team. Four minutes later, Van Truong ran diagonally behind the Thai defense and crossed for Van Khang to tap in close but he was too late. Van Khang only needed to touch the ball to score a goal for U22 Vietnam. This was also the last notable move of the match.
To be fair, U22 Vietnam played much better than U22 Thailand in the second half, but their failure to capitalize on their opportunities prevented the red-shirted players from winning. This 1-1 draw pushed U22 Vietnam to face U22 Indonesia, the only team with a perfect record in the group stage, in the semi-finals, taking place on May 13.
VINH HY
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