Việt Nam national futsal team head coach, Diego Giustozzi in the post-match press conference on Wednesday. — Photo VFF

Anh Đức

BANGKOK — After a 1-2 defeat against Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals, Việt Nam are eliminated from the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup, and have to enter a play-off bracket to determine the last spot for Asia at the Futsal World Cup.

Despite the heartbreaking nature of the defeat, Việt Nam national futsal team head coach and former World Cup winner Diego Giustozzi is still confident of his team's chances to qualify for the next round.

"I am happy with the players' performance. The team did well in defence, and controlled the game well, created more advantages than in the first half," said the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup winning coach.

“If the chances had been capitalised, the score would have been different. Uzbekistan switched to a five-man attack later but we were still controlling the situation."

The coach further said it was unfortunate that the team conceded twice in the final minutes from set pieces, but added that his team did the best they could.

"I want the players to know that the team played well against Uzbekistan. The opponent is a World Cup regular. We tried our best and fulfilled our game plan well. If we continue to play like today, World Cup qualification chances are bright," said the Argentinian.

In Wednesday's match, Việt Nam surprisingly opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Nguyễn Thịnh Phát, but two late goals from Elbek Tukinov and Juraev Sunatulla took Uzbekistan into the semis.

The four semifinalists of the tournament, namely Uzbekistan, Thailand, Tajikistan and Iran, have all qualified for the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup. However, as Uzbekistan have already qualified as hosts, Asia's fifth spot in the World Cup will be determined by a playoff bracket, featuring the quarterfinal losers Việt Nam, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The tournament is not over and we have many objectives ahead. The most important thing right now is to recover, both physically and emotionally, for the upcoming playoff game," said Giustozzi.

Việt Nam will face Kyrgyzstan, who lost 1-6 to Iran in the quarters, in the first round on Friday. — VNS