Vietnam’s U19 football team suffered a 1-2 defeat to Jordan at the team’s opener at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Championship on October 19.

Vietnam’s U19 football team (in red) suffered a 1-2 defeat to Jordan at the team’s opener at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Championship on October 19

After the whistle, Vietnam played offensive to limit its rival attacks with no errors in the defence line. The team opened the scoring at the 21st minute thanks to a header of Nham Manh Dung. 

However, Mohamed Atieh equalised for Jordan eight minutes later, capitalising on an error of Vietnam’s goalkeeper.

Afterwards, Vietnam made many mistakes in defence while Jordan, with physical advantage, launched various attacks. They found the net at the 89th minute with a goal by Mohamed Alzubi, settling the score at 2-1.

Prior to the match, the team set itself a target of defeating Jordan in order to earn a ticket to the next stage. However, with this defeat, the chance for Vietnam has become dim. 

Vietnam’s U19 team confirmed their place at the AFC final after topping Group G of the event’s qualifying round last year, while Jordan ranked first in Group E.

Besides Jordan, Vietnam will face 12-time champions the Republic of Korea and Australia, who have both been to the FIFA U20 World Cup 15 times and reached the AFC U19 Championship final in 2010.

To prepare for the AFC event, the Vietnam team has been busy training in China and Qatar.

Vietnam will next face Australia on October 22 and the RoK on October 25.

The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in Poland next year. —VNA