Vietnam lose 1-3 to Palestine in friendly ahead of SE Asian championship

The Vietnamese national football team were beaten 1-3 by Palestine in a friendly match organized in Hanoi on Sunday in preparation for the 2014 Southeast Asian Championship that will kick off in less than two weeks.

Japanese coach Toshiya Miura of the Vietnamese team said that it was his worst game since he took the helm in May.

“My players entered the game with no competitive spirit,” he said. “They thus entitled the Palestinian players to more space to stage dangerous attacks.

“After conceding the first goal, my players even forgot their defensive tasks.”

All the four goals of the match were scored in the second half.

In the 56th minute, three Palestinian players confronted Vietnamese goalkeeper To Vinh Loi after a long pass from their home field and Abuhabib opened the scoring for the visitors.

Fifteen minutes later, midfielder Hisham Salhi made a flying kick and extended his side’s lead to 2-0. Substitute Mahmoud Eld netted the third goal for Palestine notwithstanding the defense of three Vietnamese players in the box in the 83rd minute.

Van Quyet scored the only goal for Vietnam in the 89th minute after dribbling the ball past three Palestinian players and defeating goalieTawfiq abu Hammad.

Palestinian coach Ahmed M.A. Alhasan admitted that the Vietnamese defenders played sluggish football and therefore created ample space for their rivals to attack.

The world’s football governing body, FIFA, recognizes Palestine to have their own football association, so the Palestinian national team are allowed to play at FIFA-sanctioned tournaments.

Vietnam and Singapore are the hosts of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup that will open on November 22 and close on December 20.

Last month, Myanmar and Laos won the qualifying round of five teams ranked the lowest in Southeast Asia – with the other three being Brunei, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste – to advance to the finals of the competition which is the regional championship.

Vietnam will take on the Philippines, Indonesia, and Laos in Group A while Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar are placed in Group B.

The semifinal and final games will be played on a home and away format from December 6 to 20.

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