Vietnam national futsal team lose to Spain in friendly

Vietnam's strategy going into the match was to defend and wait for opportunities to counter-attack. However, Spain proved to be too tricky an opponent for Vietnam and soon had the match going their way.

Vietnam (front) play Spain in a friendly futsal match, August 30, 2021. Photo by Vietnam Football Federation

Vietnam found themselves trailing after Borja Diez opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, while the gap was increased to three goals at the half-time whistle. Spain continued to dominate in the second half, with Raul Campos sealing the 4-0 victory for the world number one.

Prior to this match, Vietnam had lost 0-1 to Japan as part of a friendly tournament hosted in Spain to prepare for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania next month. Vietnam had been scheduled to face Guatemala in the remaining match of the tournament, but a positive Covid-19 case in Guatemala’s camp forced the game to be cancelled. Vietnam still have one friendly with Spanish club Cordoba on Sept. 3 before traveling to Lithuania.

Vietnam made it to the Round of 16 in their first and latest FIFA Futsal World Cup tournament in 2016. The team aim to emulate the achievement this year, though it is definitely a tall order. Vietnam are in group D alongside five-time winners Brazil, Panama and the Czech Republic.