Vietnam narrowly win continental futsal opener against Taiwan

Vietnam edged past Taiwan in their opener on Thursday at the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship in Uzbekistan.

Considered the favorites, the Vietnamese still struggled very hard to earn three points from a 5-4 win over their Taiwanese opponents in Group C.

Three minutes into the game, Lin Chih-Hung opened the scoring for Taiwan.

But Bruno Garcia’s men equalized one minute later following a penalty kick by skipper Bao Quan. Trong Luan then put Vietnam in the lead in the sixth minute.

Mistakes made by the defensive wall in the second half almost caused the Vietnamese to pay a price.

Chi Sheng-Fa made it 2-2 after a Vietnamese defender failed to clear the ball in the 26th minute. Moments later, the Vietnamese netted two goals thanks to efforts by Quoc Nam in the 28th minute and Long Vu in the 30th.

In the 31st minute, Taiwan narrowed the gap to 3-4 following an error by the Vietnamese defenders.

The Taiwanese got more inspired after the goal and thus staged massive attacks to find an equalizer.

But the Vietnamese managed to score another goal in the 37th minute as Ngoc Son neatly finished a counter-attack after two passes.

Vietnam still pocketed three points although Huang Po Chun scored another goal for Taiwan two minutes later.

Thailand defeated Tajikistan 5-4 in the other game of Group C.

Vietnam will take on Tajikistan on Saturday before encountering the Thais two days later.

The 2016 AFC Futsal Championship is the 14th edition of the AFC Futsal Championship, biennially organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The tournament runs from February 10 to 21, with the participation of 16 teams in four groups.

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