Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated the under-23 football team for their advance to the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup following a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in Uzbekistan on Wednesday night.

The triumph in their last group-stage game qualified the Vietnamese U23 team to play in the last-eight round of the biennial tournament as the Group C runners-up.

After the game ended late on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a congratulatory message to the team via Tran Quoc Tuan, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF)’s acting chairman.

The prime minister encouraged the team to prepare well for the next match in the quarterfinals and play with dedication and sportsmanship.

Both Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung and Tuan also extended their congratulations to the team.

In addition, the VFF said it would award the team a total of VND1.3 billion (US$56,066) for their quarterfinals qualification.

The 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup is the fifth edition of the biennial international football championship organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men’s under-23 national teams of Asia.

Vietnam finished the group stage with five points and ranked second after South Korea, who earned seven points, in Group C.

Their opponents in the quarterfinals could be either Group D’s Japan or Saudi Arabia, who will compete against Tajikistan and the UAE in the very last group-stage games on Thursday night.

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