A sparkling page was written in the history of Vietnamese football when the country’s U-19 team slipped past Bahrain 1-0 on the night of October 23, making its way through to the semifinals of the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship, as well as the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time ever.

In the match with Bahrain, constant attacks were deployed on each side right from the start; however, the brilliance of the two goalkeepers prevented anyone from scoring during the first two thirds of the quarterfinal match.

It was not until the 72nd minute that Tran Thanh claimed a decisive goal for Vietnam with a cunning close-range shot.

With time running out, Vietnam proactively played defensively to protect the narrow gap, which created a lot of difficulties for Bahrain to break through and turned their hopes for an equaliser into smoke.

The historic victory against Bahrain lifted Vietnam into the AFC semifinals against the winners of the October 24 clash between Japan and Tajikistan.

More importantly, as the AFC semifinalists, Vietnam have officially booked a first-ever place in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in the Republic of Korea.

Saudi Arabia followed Vietnam in advancing after edging out Iraq 6-5 in a penalty shootout on the same day. Next up for Saudi will be a semifinal match against the winners of the encounter between Uzbekistan and Iran.

U19 Viet Nam: Tiến Dũng, Việt Anh, Tấn Tài, Tấn Sinh, Văn Hậu, Văn Hào (Đức Chinh 56′), Tiến Dụng, Trọng Đại, Quang Hải (Hữu Lâm 90’+3), Minh Dĩ, Trần Thành (Hoàng Nam 80′).

U19 Bahrain: Yusuf Habib, Ahmed, Jameel, Alshamsan, Ali (Hashim 72′), Marhoon, Aziz, Ebrahim (Alnaar 60′), H.Ali (Albureshaid 65′), Jassim, Saleh.

HFF

Vietnam has made it through to the quarterfinals of the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship for the first time in history after holding five-time champions Iraq in a goalless draw in their last Group B clash on October 20. 

Ahead of the match, Vietnam stood second in the group with four points, three above the third-place team, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A draw with Iraq would secure Vietnam a place in the quarterfinals regardless of the result of the matchup between the UAE and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Given that fact, Vietnam fought bravely and cautiously from the start, allowing the Iraqi players to produce just three shots on the goal, despite the fact that they held the ball better.

The UAE seized the chance to advance when they coming from behind to beat the DPRK 3-1; however, that Vietnam tied 0-0 with Iraq turned their hopes into smoke.

With one win over the DPRK and two draws against the UAE and Iraq, Vietnam completed their group-stage campaign in second place overall with five points, thereby joining leaders Iraq as Group B representatives in the quarterfinal round.

Next up for Vietnam will be a quarterfinal clash with hosts Bahrain on October 23. If victorious, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his players will not only make the semifinals but also secure a place in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be held in the Republic of Korea.