Despite concerted efforts, Vietnam finally had to say goodbye to their U20 World Cup campaign. Vietnam
started the match with high determination, targeting a big win against
Honduras to continue fostering hopes to advance into the knockout round
through the narrow gate – becoming one of the four best third-placed teams.
The
Southeast Asian team dominated possession in the opening minutes with a
number of threats on the Honduras defensive line; however, Duc Chinh, Tien
Linh and Thanh Binh were unable to take advantage of those opportunities to
open the scoring.
Honduras
kept pace with the match in the latter stage of the first half and produced
some noticeable counterattacks on the field, including a strike off post by
Darixon Vuelto in a face-to-face encounter with goalkeeper Tien Dung.
After the
break, Vietnam’s weaker physical strength was fully exploited by the Central
American team.
The
Southeast Asian squad’s defensive wall could only withstand until the 76th
minute when Sendel Cruz broke the deadlock for Honduras with a simple shot
from close range.
With
nothing to lose, Vietnam intensified attacks in the remainder of the game and
came close to equalising the score following Quang Hai’s strike at post at
the 85-minute mark.
Jorge
Alvarez put the match to bed in favor of Honduras by adding a second goal
three minutes into injury time.
With just
one point after three games, Vietnam finished in bottom place in the Group E
qualification and bid farewell to their FIFA U20 World Cup campaign.
Meanwhile, France and Honduras advanced into the knockout stage as the group
leaders and runners-up with nine and four points, respectively.
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