Vietnam’s U23 football team defeated their Kyrgyz opponents 3-0 in a friendly in the UAE on Sunday evening, their last game in preparation for the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The Vietnamese squad’s close-range teamwork ran like a clock from the start.

However, the Kyrgyz players were so good at marking their rivals that Vietnam’s attacks ended in a deadlock.

Had it not been for Vietnamese keeper Van Chuan, the Golden Stars would have shipped two goals in the 29th and 32nd minutes after Kyrgyzstan’s deadly shots.

Kyrgyzstan gifted Vietnam a penalty, which Le Van Do successfully converted into the opener, after Adilet Nurlan fouled Le Xuan Tu in the box in the 37th minute.

One of the four substitutes in the second half, striker Tran Van Dat scored a second goal for Vietnam in the 51st minute following a solo performance in which he eliminated two Kyrgyz defenders to face goalie Tokotaev.

Dat netted another goal nine minutes later to help Vietnam settle the game as he finished from a tight angle following a smart ball on the left wing by Le Van Do.

The 3-0 victory succeeded Vietnam’s 1-1 friendly tie with Tajikistan on October 11.

It was also the Golden Stars’ last game in preparation for the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, in which they will meet Taiwan on October 27 and Myanmar on November 2 in Group I.

The 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualification is an international men’s under-23 football competition which is organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to decide the participating teams of the finals in Uzbekistan.

Forty-two teams were drawn into nine groups of four and two groups of three teams. 

Teams in each group will play each other once at a centralized venue from October 23 to November 2.

A total of 16 teams will qualify for the final tournament, including hosts Uzbekistan, eleven group winners and the four best runners-up.

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