A scrappy late goal by Nguyen Van Quyet broke a Philippine wall and lifted Vietnam to a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Southeast Asian neighbors in a friendly at Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi on Wednesday evening.
Vietnam and the Philippines used the match as a tune-up for the 2022 AFF Championship, which will start next week.
The hosts had the major share of the possession and chances but were unable to make any of them count up until deep into injury time.
It was not until the 92nd minute that Van Quyet managed to evade two markers before his pass accidentally hit a Philippine player’s foot and changed direction, floating to the far post of the visitors’ goal for the win.
The 2022 AFF Championship is set to take place in ten Southeast Asian host cities from December 20 to January 16, 2023.
The previous edition of the tournament, which was originally scheduled for late 2020 but was pushed back until late 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Vietnam, the then-defending champions, eliminated in the semifinals by Thailand, who later won the trophy after thrashing Indonesia 6-2 in the two-legged final.
Singapore were chosen to host this tournament in a centralized venue, instead of the traditional decentralization format.
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