Nguyễn Hoàng Đức (14) and his teammates struggled as China parked the bus in the second half. VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Linh

Anh Đức

DALIAN - The Việt Nam National Football Team have lost 2-0 away to China in an international friendly match on Tuesday.

The Golden Star Warriors played well in the first half, before cracks in their defence started to show. Wang Qiuming opened the scoring for the hosts, before Wu Lei sealed China's win in the final moments of added time.

But a notable point in the match was the sending off of substitute forward Nguyễn Tiến Linh for a blatant elbow on naturalised Chinese defender Tyias Browning.

Linh, supposedly angry after a previous challenge from Browning, raced to press the ball from the Liverpool-born player. In the process, his elbow hit Browning in the face, and after a lengthy consultation from VAR, the referee handed Linh a straight red card.

Before Linh's dismissal in the 89th minute, both teams went tit-for-tat in attack, showing no mercy.

Both teams started the match slowly, but Việt Nam played with more confidence, despite all the odds stacked against them.

The stats showed that Philippe Troussier's men had more possession, and more accurate passes in the first half than the Dragon's Team.

However, it was China who found the back of the net first. In the 14th minute, a mistake in defence gave away the ball to striker Tan Long, who fired a low shot that beat keeper Đặng Văn Lâm. However, the goal did not stand because Nguyễn Tuấn Anh was fouled before.

Fourteen minutes later, Việt Nam replied with a vicious near post shot from Tuấn Hải, but the effort went just wide.

China patiently waited for their chances, and even hit the woodwork in the 34th minute from Tan Long's header.

In the final minutes of the first half, Việt Nam had more chances but clumsy footwork in the final third sent the Golden Star Warriors to the locker room with a goalless draw at the interval.

Troussier brought on young stars Nguyễn Đình Bắc, Nguyễn Thái Sơn, Hồ Văn Cường and Khuất Văn Khang in the second half, hoping for creativity in attack.

The changes brought control of the match to Troussier's men, with countless opportunities coming in the first ten minutes.

However, a smart China took the lead in the 56th minute, when Liu Yang's cross from the left found an unmarked Wang Qiuming, who fired a one-touch volley into Văn Lâm's net.

With a slim lead, a cautious Aleksandar Janković told his team to park the bus, with Việt Nam piling on the pressure in the final minutes.

The courageous Golden Star Warriors faced even more tough challenges from the opposition, with Hồ Văn Cường spilling blood to his head in the 76th minute.

Việt Nam's pressure stopped however, after Linh was sent off in the 89th minute. China with the man advantage, reversed the pressure and capitalised with a goal from Wu Lei in the eighth minute of added time.

Nguyễn Hoàng Đức's failed pass was intercepted by Wu, who sprinted towards the goal and beat Văn Lâm in a one-on-one.

Việt Nam have two more tougher oppositions in this international friendly calendar, as they face Uzbekistan in a behind closed-doors game on Friday, and South Korea in Suwon on October 17. VNS