Vietnam team lost lightly to Kyrgyzstan

In preparation for the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team had a closed friendly match (no spectators, no media) with Kyrgyzstan at Al Egla training ground in Doha.

This is considered an opportunity for coach Troussier's team to get acquainted with an official match before the continental tournament begins, and is also the last chance for the players to show themselves before the French strategist finalizes the list of 26 players for the Asian Cup.

According to the original plan, the match between Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan was to take place at 6:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Vietnam time). However, because Kyrgyzstan's matches in the Asian Cup group stage took place in the afternoon, the opposing team requested to change the match to 4:00 p.m.

Vietnam team (in white) plays a friendly match with Kyrgyzstan (Photo: KFU).

Kyrgyzstan started the match better than Vietnam. The team from Central Asia took the lead in the 31st minute after Kojo Joel opened the scoring. 1-0 was also the score at half-time.

Coach Troussier's team played hard in the second half and found an equalizer in the 63rd minute thanks to Truong Tien Anh. However, Aizar Akmatov's goal in the 75th minute gave Kyrgyzstan the lead for the second time. Kyrgyzstan won the match 2-1.

Despite the defeat before the 2023 Asian Cup, the loss was not too important for coach Troussier and his students as the goal of the match was only for the players to get used to the competition conditions.

Vietnamese players (in white) play against Kyrgyzstan (in red) (Photo: KFU).

The 2023 Asian Cup finals will take place from January 12 to February 10 in Qatar. Vietnam will be in Group D, playing Japan on January 14, then Indonesia on January 19 and Iraq on January 24. Coach Troussier and his team aim to advance past the group stage.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-thua-nhe-truoc-kyrgyzstan-20240109221757757.htm