AFC unexpectedly recalls Vietnam's football miracle before Asian qualifiers

Ahead of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, the AFC homepage reviewed the tournament's historical milestones.

U23 Vietnam is ready for the 2024 U23 Asia qualifiers.

Notably, AFC mentioned the runner-up achievement at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship of U23 Vietnam.

“The 2018 AFC U23 Championship saw champions Japan eliminated early in the quarter-finals and the rise of Uzbekistan U23 and Vietnam U23, the two teams reaching the final.

Both teams qualified for the group stage in second place. Uzbekistan U23 performed impressively in the knockout stage, beating Japan 4-0 and South Korea 4-1.

The journey of U23 Vietnam is more difficult with 2 victories in penalty shootouts against Iraq and Qatar," wrote the AFC homepage.

In the final, Rustamjon Ashurmatov opened the scoring for U23 Uzbekistan. But then, Quang Hai rekindled the red team's championship hopes with a superb free kick.

When everyone was thinking about the penalty shootout, Andrey Sidorov scored to seal a 2-1 victory for U23 Uzbekistan in the final minutes of the second extra time.

Although unable to win the championship, the achievement of reaching the final of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship is the most remarkable mark of Vietnamese football in the continental playground.

Returning to the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers, U23 Vietnam is in group C with Guam, Singapore and Yemen.

According to the schedule, coach Troussier and his team will face U23 Guam (September 6), U23 Yemen (September 9) and U23 Singapore (September 12).

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/afc-bat-ngo-nhac-ky-tich-cua-u23-viet-nam-truoc-vong-loai-giai-chau-a-192230904232819595.htm