In the final round of the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City International Futsal Tournament, the Vietnam futsal team could not create a surprise when they lost to Iran with a score of 1-3. However, the performance of the students of Coach Diego Giustozzi Raul against the world’s 7th ranked futsal team still “scored points” with the large home audience.
Iran is the leading team of Asian Futsal and currently ranks 7th in the world Futsal rankings. Despite missing some key players due to club commitments, the West Asian Futsal team was still highly rated, far superior to the Vietnam Futsal Team.
Even so, with the support of over 1,000 spectators at the stadium, the Vietnam Futsal Team started better. In the opening minutes of the match, it was the home team that controlled the ball and exerted significant pressure towards Iran’s goal.
However, unlike previous matches where they were very effective in sieges, the Vietnam Futsal Team seemed to lack luck in their finishes. The reason being Iran’s goalkeeper played too well, saving seemingly unstoppable shots after the Vietnam Futsal Team’s strikes.
For example, in the fifth minute, Thai Huy launched a powerful shot but goalkeeper Bagher spectacularly pushed the ball out. Soon after, a very delicate combination between goalkeeper Van Y and Gia Hung before Dao Minh Quang fired a shot into the high corner, but Iran’s goalkeeper again came out on top.
Unable to convert opportunities into goals, the Vietnam futsal team conceded when Iran organized a counterattack. In the 14th minute, after a quick attacking combination that moved the ball to the left flank, Alii Khalivand shot diagonally, giving the West Asian team the lead. Right at the end of the first half, Doan Phat lost the ball in midfield, providing Iran with a favorable pass to organize an attack, and Ali Asghar easily tapped in close to double the score to 2-0.
In the second half, the Vietnam Futsal Team continued to push high, creating an exchange of attacks against the more highly-rated Iran. As before, Duc Hoa and his teammates encountered an outstanding defensive wall and were unable to score despite being very active in shooting. Unable to breach the opponent’s net, the Vietnam Futsal Team conceded one more goal after Behrooz’s finish in the 38th minute. Only in the final minute, using the power-play tactic, captain Duc Hoa scored for the home team, narrowing the score to 1-3. This was also the final result of the match.
Overall, the Vietnam Futsal Team earned 2 points after 3 matches and finished in third place at the 2024 International Futsal Tournament. This tournament, organized by the Vietnam Football Federation, primarily aimed to provide good preparation for the Vietnam Futsal Team before participating in the AFC Futsal Championship 2024, which will take place in Thailand from April 17 to April 28. The goal of the Vietnam Futsal Team is to compete for a spot at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024.
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