Dubai: Vietnam sealed a place in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 quarter-finals, defeating Jordan 4-2 on penalties after their Round of 16 tie ended 1-1 at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Sunday.
Up next for Vietnam will be the winners of the Japan-Saudi Arabia last 16 tie, with the quarter-final to be also played at Al Maktoum Stadium.
Both teams started positively as they went in search of an early goal with the first shot on target for Jordan and it came in the 17th minute when Baha’ Abdelrahman forced Vietnam goalkeeper Dang Van Lam into action.
Three minutes later, Jordan came close again when Mousa Mohammad Suleiman lured three defenders out of position before his back-heel pass found the unmarked Feras Zeyad Shilbaya, whose cross to Yaseen Mahmoud Bakheet saw his effort going wide.
Vietnam’s best chance came in the 35th minute with Doan Van Hau unleashing a left-footed strike after an exchange of passes with Nguyen Cong Phuong but Jordanian custodian Amer Shafi was quick to parry his shot.
Jordan took the lead in the 38th minute after Do Hung Dung brought Salem Alajalin down just outside the box, and Abdelrahman scored from the resultant free-kick with a cracker into the top right corner of the net.
Park Hang-seo’s Vietnam returned from the break a changed side as they held the lion’s share of possession.
Their hard work paid dividends just six minutes into the second half when Nguyen Trong Hoang sent in a curling cross in front of the goal mouth which Nguyen Cong Phuong squeezed past the Jordanian defenders for the equaliser.
Jordan survived a scare at the hour mark when Shilbaya failed to fully block Nguyen Quang Hai’s through pass but before Phan Van Duc could connect, other defenders cleared to keep the score level.
Neither side managed to find a route to goal in the remaining minutes, forcing the first ever AFC Asian Cup last-16 tie to go into extra-time.
Neither side was willing to take unnecessary risks in extra-time, with both goalkeepers hardly called into action as penalties were needed to decide the tie.
It was a case of who would blink first in the shoot-out and Jordan were the first to miss with Baha Seif striking the crossbar which was then followed by Ahmed Saleh’s effort saved by Vietnam goalkeeper Dang.
Vietnam’s Tran Minh Vuong then failed to put the game to bed with Vietnam’s fourth effort but Bùi Tien Dung made no mistake as the Southeast Asians marched into the quarterfinals.
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