The Vietnam national football team, led by coach Park Hang-seo, overcame Malaysia and crossed the ridge of the 8th division for the first time ever to advance to the FIFA World Cup final qualifier.
Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-1 in Group G of the Asian region's second round of the 2022 World Cup held at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 12th (Korean time).
Vietnam, which has gone undefeated in seven matches (17 points, 5 wins, 2 draws), maintained the lead of the group by maintaining a two-point gap with the second-placed UAE (15 points, 5 wins, 2 losses) that defeated Indonesia that day.
In the second qualifying round, where 4-5 teams are divided into 8 groups each, 7 teams from the 1st place in each group, except Qatar, will go directly to the final qualifying round, Five additional teams with good results in the match will advance to the final qualifying round.
If Vietnam wins or draws in the final match with the UAE at 1:45 am on the 16th, they will advance to the final qualifiers with the first place in the group.
Even if Vietnam loses to the UAE, the possibility remains open to qualify for the finals as group 2nd.
Vietnam has never made it to the World Cup final qualifiers so far.
UAE, currently 2nd in Group G, are in the 5th place in the rankings between the 2nd placed teams in each group.
Vietnam, which currently has a higher score than the UAE, is highly likely to be stable in the rankings between the second-placed teams if they finish second in the group.
Vietnam took the lead from a corner kick in the 27th minute of the first half.
Nguyen Thien Linh scored with a header from the front door as the opposing defense couldn't clear the ball properly.
Afterwards, Vietnam, who struggled with Malaysia's rough play, conceded a goal from a penalty kick to Brazilian naturalized player Guillermi Lucrecio in the 28th minute of the second half.
Earlier, Vietnam's Doan Van Howe conceded a penalty kick after fouling Lucrecio while fighting for the ball in the front.
Vietnam scored the winning goal from a penalty kick after 10 minutes of conceding.
Substitute Nguyen Van Toan at the end of the match induced a penalty kick while receiving a penetration pass inside the penalty area.
The kicker, Que Ngoc Hai, scored with a calm shot, giving Park Hang-seo-ho three points.
Indonesia, led by coach Shin Tae-yong, lost to the UAE 5-0.
Indonesia was still in the bottom 5th place (points 1, 1 draw, 7 losses).
(Photo = provided by AFC, Yonhap News)