The Vietnamese national men’s football team yesterday managed a 2-1 win over host Malaysia who reportedly started their second-string players for the match in Group I of the AFC U-23 Championship 2016.

Malaysian captain Nazirul Naim opened the scoring in the 34th minute after making a trademark left-footed blast from a distance of 37m to beat Vietnamese keeper Hoai Anh.

Five minutes later, striker Huy Toan of Vietnam leveled it 1-1 before his peer striker Cong Phuong fixed the match result at 2-1 in the 45th minute.

The first goal of Vietnam came after strategic coordination between defensive and attacking lines.

When Vietnamese strikers Toan and Phuong intruded deeply in front of the Malaysian box to attract the rival defenders, the ball was crossed to the left wing for Tien Dung to shoot.

Malaysian keeper Farhan couldn’t catch the ball and pushed it out and the loose ball came to Vietnamese striker Phuong, who kicked the ball back to Toan to level the result.

 
In the last minute of the first half, defender Que Ngoc Hai kicked a long pass to Cong Phuong in front. Phuong neutralized an offside trap of the rival defenders to face keeper Fahran before shooting across to net a second goal for Vietnam.

Before the match, it was reported that the host Malaysia would field their second-string players because their elite players are on a long training trip to prepare for the 2015 SEA Games in June in Singapore.

Malaysia doesn’t focus on the Asian competition forum, according to the source of information Tuoi Tre received.

The news was added with the fact that the stands at the Shah Alam Stadium were mostly empty.

Source Tuoitrenews