“There were two aspects that impressed about Vietnam en route to the semifinals - a mean defense and a team filled with goalscorers,” AFC said Friday in a preview on its website ahead of the match between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday.
Before losing 1-3 to South Korea on Wednesday, Vietnam had not conceded even once in its Asian Games 2018 campaign, the AFC noted.
Even though Nguyen Cong Phuong is an important striker for the Vietnamese team, AFC cautioned that UAE should watch out for other players as many of them are also capable of scoring.
Nine goals for Vietnam in the Asian Games have come from seven different players, it said.
AFC also said that Vietnam should be careful with Zayed Al Ameri, UAE’s livewire striker, who has scored four of the team’s total haul of eight goals.
“UAE's resilience is their obvious strength,” it said.
Vietnam made history by entering the quarter-finals and semi-finals for the first time in the Asian Games this year, which is held in Indonesia.
The match with UAE will take place at the Pakansari Stadium, Indonesia, at 3:00 p.m. and will be reported live on VnExpress International.
This will be an opportunity for the Vietnamese men’s football team to win their first Asian Games bronze medal.