Viet Nam's U23s maintained their lead in the Viet Nam Football Federation's Eximbank Cup after a 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan's U23 team yesterday at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium.

Facing bigger and stronger rivals, Vietnamese players used rapid counter-attack to help them dominate most of the first half of the match.

The hosts had their first chance to score at the fifth minute when Nguyen Dinh Tung had the ball in a face-to-face show-down with Uzbekistani goalkeeper Kuvvatov Sanjar following a smart pass from captain Pham Thanh Luong from the right wing.

Luong's long-ranged pass left all of Uzbekistan's defenders behind and came to Tung who ran rapidly from the central area to control the ball. He tried to make a shot over the head of Sanjar who ran away from his net to block the ball.

However his attempt went wide.

Captain Luong, who was praised that he could play for Spanish champions Barcelona after his performance in the first match against Myanmar two days ago, also created a number of opportunities for his teammates, but they failed to convert these opportunities into goals.

There were concerns over the hosts' stamina during the second half, which is always their weak point. The Vietnamese players however proved to have overcome this weakness for now, as they played much better and created more chances.

But it was the visitors who opened the score at the 53rd minute.

Coach Abramov Vadim asked his players to change their playing style from using high balls which were ineffective in the first half to low balls. The ploy worked.

Smolyachenko Pavel tapped the ball into the net after receiving it from the right wing, which went through all of the Vietnamese defenders' legs.

Viet Nam's goalie Manh Tuan had almost no chance to stop Pavel's shot, which was fast and delivered from close range.

The goal loss, on the other hand, encouraged the hosts to play better.

Just five minutes later Nguyen Van Quyet made an equaliser from a header.

Getting the ball from Luong's free kick Quyet jumped high and scored to the surprise of many spectators, as he was shorter than all of Uzbekistan's defenders, who made a wall in front of their goal.

Quyet nearly doubled the score just 60 seconds later when his shoot defeated Sanjar but was denied by the cross bar.

The Vietnamese who played with only 10 men from the 64th minute after defender Chu Ngoc Anh was sent off because of the second yellow card not only successfully defended their net until the end of the game but also threatened Uzbekistan several times.

Uzbekistan, who earned their best success in football with the fourth position at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou last November tried to take the advantage by strengthening their forward position. But Viet Nam ‘s coach Goetz countered this strategy with some of his own changes.

Viet Nam, after one win and one draw, are level on four points with Uzbekistan, who are only behind in the rankings due to goal difference.

In the earlier match yesterday, Malaysia, who came here without their best players, defeated Myanmar 2-1. The defending SEA Games champions will play Viet Nam next in the last round match tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan, who won the VFF Cup in 2007, will play Myanmar.

VNS