Vietnamese players celebrate their victory against Thailand on February 22 (Photo: VNA) |
Hanoi – Vietnam beat Thailand 1-0 in a match at the ongoing AFF U23 Championship in Cambodia on February 22, despite the fact that some players of the team could not play after testing positive for the coronavirus and reinforcements had to be sent from Vietnam to fill in the gap.
Trung Thanh opened the score in the 29th minute, giving more strength to his team during the match.
Although Thailand made adjustments in the second half, they failed to gain a draw.
Earlier, the Vietnamese squad thrashed Singapore 7-0 at their opening Group C tie of the AFF U23 Championship on February 19 night, and they just needed a draw in the match against Thailand to enter the semi-final.
After the match against Singapore, Vietnam received the bad news, when more players returned positive quick tests. They had only 11 players, including two goalkeepers.
Four footballers among the reinforcements departed from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh by road in early morning of February 22. They tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival. Meanwhile, two players who travelled by air arrived in Phnom Penh at 4.45pm, just hours before the match against Thailand began.
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