Vietnam draw Lebanon in first leg of Futsal World Cup playoffs

Although both legs of the playoffs will take place at Khor Fakkan Arena in UAE, the home and away rule is still applied to these games. Vietnam, being the home team of the first leg, got an advantage when they didn’t concede. In the second leg, Vietnam will be the away team and even if the result is a draw (with goals), they will win the playoffs due to away goal advantage.

However, Vietnam will need more effort if they want to score in the second leg, after wasting chances in the first game on Sunday. Most of Vietnam's relevant chance came from corners and throw-ins when they passed the ball for players from outside the box to perform long-range shots. But these attempts either went wide or were not hard enough to beat Lebanon's keeper Hussein Hamadani.

 

 

Vietnam draw Lebanon in first leg of Futsal World Cup playoffs

Việt Nam 0-0 Lebanon

Head coach Pham Minh Giang fielded five players of Thai Son Nam, the Vietnamese futsal club that finished second at the AFC Futsal Club Championship 2018, while all five players of Lebanon are playing for Bank of Beirut, which peaked third in the same tournament.

In the first half, Vietnam created more chances but the second half belonged to Lebanon. In just two minutes at the start of the second half, Lebanon players got two clear chances to score, but they were stopped thanks to the excellent goalkeeping from Ho Van Y. The score 0-0 remained until the end.

An intense 40 minutes of the second leg will be played on May 25. In the other playoff, Thailand sabotaged Iraq with a 7-2 victory in the first leg.

Two playoff winners will qualify for Futsal World Cup 2021 in Lithuania, scheduled to take place from September 12 to October 3.

If Vietnam could beat Lebanon, they will qualify for the Futsal World Cup for the second time, the first being in 2017.