RISES ABOVE ALL: Captain Dụng Quang Nho, having simply recovered from COVID, celebrates the successful aim together with his group. — Picture VFF
Anh Đức
PHNOM PENH — Việt Nam have received the 2022 AFF Underneath-23s Championship after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over native rivals Thailand within the last on Saturday evening in Phnom Penh.
A final-minute addition to a Việt Nam squad ridden by COVID, Trần Bảo Toàn was the hero of the evening as his towering header introduced Việt Nam their first-ever AFF U23 title.
Having overwhelmed Timor-Leste on penalties in a gruelling semi-final with solely 13 gamers obtainable attributable to COVID, Việt Nam acquired excellent news going into the ultimate.
Captain and talisman Dụng Quang Nho and three different gamers returned after recovering from the virus, bolstering the squad.
Loads of Vietnamese dwelling in Cambodia got here to the Morodok Techo Nationwide Stadium to cheer the Younger Warriors on after their heroic efforts within the semifinals had received the hearts of hundreds of thousands.
Just like their first encounter within the group stage the place Việt Nam additionally received 1-0, Thailand took the initiative and tried to get the ball into Đặng Tuấn Hưng’s internet with all the pieces from headers to a bunch of lengthy photographs.
The group pose with their first ever gold cup. — Picture Nguyên Khang
The closest the Thai’s bought to Hưng’s aim was within the thirty seventh minute when Thanawat Saipetch curled a shot from exterior the field forcing Hưng into an acrobatic save.
Việt Nam sat again patiently and have been lethal on the counterattack. One in every of which led to an amazing effort exterior the field from captain Quang Nho that led to a nook for Việt Namin the forty fifth minute. The following nook discovered Nguyễn Thanh Nhân on the alternative wing who crossed it for Trần Bảo Toàn to move into Narongsak Nuangwongsa’s internet in the final moments of the primary half.
Only a aim down, Thailand pushed ahead to search out the equaliser. However the males in blue quickly ceded management to Việt Nam. Võ Nguyên Hoàng was gifted probability after probability, however the 20-year-old couldn’t beat the athletic Narongsak.
On the different finish, Tuấn Hưng repeated his heroics from Thursday, making many essential saves, even when his proper leg was injured after a fingertip save in the 73rd minute.
Thailand’s coach Salva Valero Garcia sends on two strikers within the 93rd minute to strain Việt Nam, but it surely proved too little, too late, and the Younger Warriors held their slim result in win the championship.
That is Việt Nam’s first-ever AFF Underneath-23 Championship and a private milestone for coach Đinh Thế Nam: the first regional males’s soccer event win for a Vietnamese coach.
Nam will return to obligation for the under-21s group later within the SEA Video games on residence soil in Might, the place nationwide group coach Park Dangle-seo will take over as coach of the under-23s.
“I dedicate my aim to my teammates who’re presently sick, in addition to all of the followers who supported us,” mentioned goalscoring hero Bảo Toàn.
“It is an indescribable feeling right here tonight. My appreciation goes out to the followers, the Vietnamese Soccer Federation in addition to the Vietnamese individuals in Cambodia who’ve helped us tremendously.” — VNS