AFC honours Vietnamese midfielder’s goal at U23 event

Vietnamese midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai (Photo: bongda.com.vn)

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the top five most impressive goals made in the qualifying round of the AFC U23 Championship finals in China.

Vietnamese midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai’s goal with his left foot in the match against the Republic of Korea on January 11 topped the list.

Hai was also named one of the six top goal scorers of the event. In addition to the goal against the Republic of Korea, he scored one more goal in the match with Australia which helped Vietnam win 1-0 in the qualifying round of Group D.

Almoez Ali of Qatar and Lee Keun-ho of the Republic of Korea topped the list with three goals each.

The remaining top scorers are Ko Itakura of Japan, Oday Dabbagh of Palestine and Safawi Rasid of Malaysia.

Vietnam tied goalless with Syria in the last Group D match on January 17, qualifying for the quarter-final for the first time in the history of Vietnamese football.

With four points after three games, Vietnam ranked second after the Republic of Korea and became one of the eight strongest teams in the continental competition.

In the next phase, Vietnam will face Group C leader Iraq on January 20.

VNA