Vietnam men's volleyball team surprises Qatari naturalized athletes

The Vietnamese men's volleyball team played bravely against defending champion Qatar in the quarterfinals of the AVC Nations Cup 2025 on the evening of June 21.

Vietnam men's volleyball team (in blue) makes defending champion Qatar struggle - Photo: AVC

This is a match in which the Vietnamese men's volleyball team is considered completely inferior because Qatar is not only the defending champion but also possesses a team of high-quality naturalized athletes.

Their squad has several notable names such as main striker Renan Ribeiro (Brazilian origin), Nikola Vasic (Serbia), middle blocker Papemaguette Diagne (Senegal), setter Borislav Georgiev (Bulgaria)... Most of these players are tall and agile, so they have comprehensive offensive and defensive capabilities.

But they had a very difficult day against the determined Vietnamese men's volleyball team.

Right from the first set, the surprise was created by coach Tran Dinh Tien's team. Unlike the loss to Korea in the group stage, the Vietnamese team significantly improved their defense. The defenders worked more effectively, many times neutralizing powerful attacks from Qatar.

On the offensive side, Quoc Duy continued to be the main scorer. At one point, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team led 19-15 but the gap was reduced and then tied 24-24. The two teams were forced into a seemingly endless scoring series. The turning point in set 1 came when Qatar led 28-27 and scored a point to raise the score to 29-27.

Winning 2 sets against Qatar was a surprise for the Vietnamese team - Photo: AVC

Vietnam immediately used the right to challenge, thereby determining that the opponent player touched the net. Therefore, the score returned to 28-28. From here, Mr. Tran Dinh Tien's athletes seemed to be in high spirits, winning a dramatic 31-29 victory.

And that was not the only surprise that the Vietnamese men's volleyball team created in this match. After losing games 2 and 3 with scores of 21-25 and 15-25, they faced a reverse defeat in the end.

But then determination and courage helped the Vietnamese athletes revive hope. They made skillful moves to compensate for their physical disadvantage and won 25-22 in set 4 to bring the match into the deciding set 5.

At this time, despite being significantly physically exhausted, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team continued to cause many difficulties. However, Qatar showed their superior skills to win 15-12, winning the final match 3-2.

Despite losing, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team created quite a few surprises against an opponent who was overwhelmingly dominant in theory. Winning 2 sets against Qatar was a result that few expected before the match.

After this defeat, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team will continue to compete in the 5th to 8th place of the AVC Nations Cup 2025. Their first opponent will be Indonesia.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-chuyen-nam-viet-nam-gay-bat-ngo-cho-dan-van-dong-vien-nhap-tich-qatar-20250621232606327.htm