HO CHI MINH CITY: India suffered a 0-3 thrashing at the hands of higher-seeded Vietnam in the second and final game of the Hung Thinh Friendly football tournament on Tuesday.
It was a reality check for the 104th-ranked Indians after three convincing wins in June in the Asian Cup qualifiers and a 1-1 draw against Singapore in that tournament on Saturday when they were literally dominated by Vietnam ranked 97th in the second half.
Phan Van Duc (10th), Nguyen Van Toan (49th) and Nguyen Van Quyet (70th) scored for Vietnam without a reply from the Indians whose defenders made a poor outing, especially in the second half.
The Indians, however, were level with their opponents in the first half to be blown away in the second session.
Vietnam won the tournament with two wins in as many games. They had also beaten Singapore 4-0 in their opening game.
India and Vietnam have played many memorable matches in the past, one of them being the 2002 LG Cup Final which India triumphed 3-1 after coming from behind to win the trophy.
India and Vietnam last met in 2010 in an international friendly in Pune with the Blue Tigers winning 3-1 with Chhetri scoring a hat-trick.
But since then, Vietnamese football has gained momentum and has been able to compete with the best teams on the continent. Earlier this year, they reached the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and also qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup Round of 16.
The home side were quick to take the lead, with Phan Van Duc finding the target in the 10th minute. The goal, however, could have been avoided if the goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and centre-back Sandesh Jhingan communicated well.
Gurpreet and Jhingan, who were in the starting XI after missing the last game due to a late arrival due to visa issues, went for the ball from a corner but the Indian keeper was able to get his hands on it .
Jhingan’s header somehow landed in the middle of the Indian penalty area and Van Duc’s sharp left foot domed the net even as Gurpreet made light contact.
Just a minute before the strike, Gurpreet had to dive deep to his right to save another shot from a Vietnamese striker.
Vietnam went on the offensive, but India gradually prevailed and they had two clear scoring chances in the first half, thanks to some fine assists from Akash Mishra who was superb down the left channel .
In the 26th minute, Mishra was in full Indian counter-attack and he sent a superb pass to Ashique Kuruniyan, at the entrance to the Vietnamese area on the left side. Kuruniyan’s volley beat the goalkeeper but went inches away from the Vietnamese far post.
Even closer than Kuruniyan’s effort was the skipper’s Sunil Chhetri just before the half-time whistle.
Mishra fired one from wide on the left for Chhetri, who guided his header towards the far post, but missed it by a hair’s breadth. The veteran striker reacted in disbelief with his hands to his head.
Vietnam pressed hard just as they came out after the restart and they had a few shots towards the Indian goal.
Vietnam’s second goal came four minutes after the restart as Nguyen Van Toan won an aerial duel with Anwar Ali and then beat Gurpreet with a shot.
In the 65th minute, the head coach Igor Stimac replaced Chhetri, Udanta SinghChinglensana with Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco and Roshan Singh but there was no change in India’s fortunes with Vietnam scoring their third five minutes later.
Van Quyet received the ball from a header clearance inside the Indian penalty area and he curled it past Gurpreet to punish the visitors for another defensive negligence.
It was a reality check for the 104th-ranked Indians after three convincing wins in June in the Asian Cup qualifiers and a 1-1 draw against Singapore in that tournament on Saturday when they were literally dominated by Vietnam ranked 97th in the second half.
Phan Van Duc (10th), Nguyen Van Toan (49th) and Nguyen Van Quyet (70th) scored for Vietnam without a reply from the Indians whose defenders made a poor outing, especially in the second half.
The Indians, however, were level with their opponents in the first half to be blown away in the second session.
Vietnam won the tournament with two wins in as many games. They had also beaten Singapore 4-0 in their opening game.
India and Vietnam have played many memorable matches in the past, one of them being the 2002 LG Cup Final which India triumphed 3-1 after coming from behind to win the trophy.
India and Vietnam last met in 2010 in an international friendly in Pune with the Blue Tigers winning 3-1 with Chhetri scoring a hat-trick.
But since then, Vietnamese football has gained momentum and has been able to compete with the best teams on the continent. Earlier this year, they reached the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and also qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup Round of 16.
The home side were quick to take the lead, with Phan Van Duc finding the target in the 10th minute. The goal, however, could have been avoided if the goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and centre-back Sandesh Jhingan communicated well.
Gurpreet and Jhingan, who were in the starting XI after missing the last game due to a late arrival due to visa issues, went for the ball from a corner but the Indian keeper was able to get his hands on it .
Jhingan’s header somehow landed in the middle of the Indian penalty area and Van Duc’s sharp left foot domed the net even as Gurpreet made light contact.
Just a minute before the strike, Gurpreet had to dive deep to his right to save another shot from a Vietnamese striker.
Vietnam went on the offensive, but India gradually prevailed and they had two clear scoring chances in the first half, thanks to some fine assists from Akash Mishra who was superb down the left channel .
In the 26th minute, Mishra was in full Indian counter-attack and he sent a superb pass to Ashique Kuruniyan, at the entrance to the Vietnamese area on the left side. Kuruniyan’s volley beat the goalkeeper but went inches away from the Vietnamese far post.
Even closer than Kuruniyan’s effort was the skipper’s Sunil Chhetri just before the half-time whistle.
Mishra fired one from wide on the left for Chhetri, who guided his header towards the far post, but missed it by a hair’s breadth. The veteran striker reacted in disbelief with his hands to his head.
Vietnam pressed hard just as they came out after the restart and they had a few shots towards the Indian goal.
Vietnam’s second goal came four minutes after the restart as Nguyen Van Toan won an aerial duel with Anwar Ali and then beat Gurpreet with a shot.
In the 65th minute, the head coach Igor Stimac replaced Chhetri, Udanta SinghChinglensana with Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco and Roshan Singh but there was no change in India’s fortunes with Vietnam scoring their third five minutes later.
Van Quyet received the ball from a header clearance inside the Indian penalty area and he curled it past Gurpreet to punish the visitors for another defensive negligence.