Singapore hold Vietnam to a draw in U23 Asian Cup qualifiers

Vietnam were expected to have an easy game against Singapore, who lost 0-3 to Yemen and drew 1-1 to Guam in the previous games of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Vietnam, with two wins against Yemen and Guam, qualified early for the main event next year while Singapore were already out of chance.

Vietnam took no time to dominate the game and things got even more comfortable for them with an early penalty in the 12th minute when Bui Vi Hao was fouled by goalkeeper Aizil Yazid. From the spot, Nguyen Dinh Bac opened the scoring for Vietnam. In the remaining time of the first half, Singapore couldn’t get the ball on the other side as Vietnam cornered them with great pressure, but couldn’t score more.

The second half saw Singapore playing a lot better, as they were more precise and stronger with the attacks. After a few more chances without scoring, Vietnam paid the price when Singapore equalized in the 59th minute. From a corner, Vietnam’s Nguyen Huu Nam tried to clear the ball with a header, but it hit Nguyen Hong Phuc and turned into an own goal.

Singapore got more confident after the equalizer and they threatened Vietnam’s goal a few times.

But the third goal came to Vietnam instead. From a corner again, the ball found Huu Nam, who got his redemption with a powerful strike to get Vietnam ahead in the 77th minute.

After the goal, Vietnam continued to attack and revealed lots of space for Singapore to exploit. In the 85th minute, a counter-attack put Chua Vasileios on the left flank and he easily equalized again for Singapore.

The game ended 2-2 with Vietnam keeping the top spot of group C while Singapore left the tournament head high after playing their best game.