Football

Huỳnh Công Đến of Việt Nam (2nd right) tries to steal a ball from defender Ali Basem Almosawe of Iraq during their match at the Doha Cup in Qatar on March 23. Việt Nam lost 3-0. Photo of VFF

HÀ NỘI — In a disappointing start for Philippe Troussier as head coach of the Việt Nam U23 team, the squad suffered a 3-0 loss to Iraq in their first match at the Doha Cup in Qatar.

Despite the setback, Troussier saw the match as a valuable lesson for the players, who he believes will improve in the future.

Việt Nam faced adversity early on in the game, as defender Vũ Tiến Long received a red card in the 22nd minute for a challenge that resulted in Nihad Qwaid falling in the box.

The red card forced Troussier to adjust his line-up, but his side went behind just before halftime.

Hussein Lawend went down in the box, and Iraq were given a penalty. Ali Basem Almosawe converted from 12 yards out.

The break time did not help Việt Nam as they conceded two more goals, in the 60th minute by Ahmed Hassan and 85th by Dhulfiqar Al Imari.

In the 89th minute, Võ Hoàng Minh Khoa received a second yellow card and was also sent off.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Troussier said it was an unexpected result for Việt Nam.

However, he found some good points in the youngsters' performance.

"Our performance in the first 20 minutes was not bad, said Troussier. "But the defenders made a mistake leading to a red card. My team was not confident with 10 men."

"But we come here to make mistakes, fix them and progress. We can't wait to play the second match to show our better performance."

Asked about two red cards for Việt Nam, the French coach said the referee was right in all his decisions.

"I emphasise that through this tournament, especially this match, players have had good opportunities to learn and gain experience," he said. "Of course, we will have to pay for the lessons we learn here. We will analyse the match and move forward to the next matches."

He added that the Doha Cup is a test for the 32nd SEA Games. Participating teams here were all strong and it is impossible to avoid mistakes. He hopes it will make his team stronger.

Speaking with reporters after the game, goalkeeper Quan Văn Chuẩn said his teammates managed the ball well but delivered too many inaccurate passes.

"Playing with one player less than Iraq, we met difficulty in connecting each other and could not provide balls to the front line," he said. "It was really difficult to open attacks."

Việt Nam, currently at the bottom of the ranking, will play the UAE on March 26.

After two matches, organisers will arrange the next fixture based on the teams' results. VNS