Vietnam are through to the final of King’s Cup 2019 after Nguyen Anh Duc scored in the stoppage time, extinguishing the host Thailand’s hope in the semi-finals in Wednesday match.
Vietnamese striker Nguyen Anh Duc (11). Photo: Lao Dong
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Anh Duc netted in the 94th minute with a bullet header from Luong Xuan Truong’s corner, leaving the War Elephants defeated 0-1 at the annual tournament organized by Thailand.
The Wednesday match is a keenly-contested encounter at Chang Arena stadium, Buriram as both War Elephants and Golden Dragons entered the match with confidence and determination to win.
During the match, some tense situations happened, including those which were believed to deserve red cards. The match finally ended with two yellow cards, one each.
For the War Elephants, the match is more than important after Vietnam handed Thailand a 4-0 drubbing at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on March 26 to qualify for the AFC U23 Championship 2020
Before the match, Thailand’s coach Sirisak Yodyardthai said that he believed in his players and that his team is confident to defeat Vietnam. The match will be worth to wait, VnExpress quoted him as saying.
For Vietnam’s coach Park Hang-seo, since taking over as Vietnam coach in October 2017, he has never come up against the Thais at the senior level except for two matches against them the U23 level, including a 4-0 victory in March.
Meanwhile, Thai captain Teerasil Dangda said the match would be all about pride.
Facing Vietnam is not easy at any level and the game promises to be a great one and nobody wants to lose, according to VnExpress.
During the Wednesday match, the hosts missed some chances to score, for example in the 17th minute, Supachai Jaided threatened Dang Van Lam’s goal when he brilliantly took a searching pass from Theerathon Bunmathan into his stride on his chest and then fire a shot away while stumbling but vertical column denied the ball.
Thitipan Puangchan was the next to come close four minutes after the half-hour mark, pressuring Nguyen Trong Hoang on the edge of the Vietnam area into losing possession and unleashing a fierce snapshot on the half-volley, FOX Sports reported.
When the match looked like to need penalties to decide the result, Vietnam earned a corner and midfielder Luong Xuan Truong took a kick then Anh Duc met it. Duc’s bullet header was straight at Thailand’s goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan, he somehow disconcerted and was unable to prevent the ball from looping over him and into the net.
Going to the final, Vietnam will meet Curacao in Saturday’s final while the Thais have to settle for a third-place playoff against India.
