Coach Falko Goetz was satisfied with his team's performance despite Viet Nam's 0-1 loss to Japan in yesterday's friendly match in Kobe Wing Stadium in Japan.
Their loss was predicted prior to the match because Japan are the defending Asian champions. However, the Vietnamese players performed better than expected by holding Japan to only one point and threatening to score on numerous occasions.

Japan easily dominated the match by fielding six players who are competing in Europe, although they remained scoreless until the 28th minute.

To score, midfielder Makoto Hasebe went through from the left wing and passed to Tadanari Lee who tapped it into the empty net.

Viet Nam played in a 4-5-1 formation but found no chance to counter-attack in their efforts to resist consecutive attacks by Japan.

Later in the match Goetz changed tactics and strengthened the front line by replacing midfielder Le Tan Tai with striker Nguyen Ngoc Thanh. Minutes later young striker Dinh Tung was also in play while Nguyen Quang Hai replaced tired Le Cong Vinh.

The new trio brought fresh power to Viet Nam's line-up and balanced the field against the World Cup quarter-finalist with several waves of attack.

However, the inexperienced Vietnamese were unable to find the Japanese net and lost midfielder Chi Cong in the last minutes due to a second yellow card.

Down to 10 men with only five minutes remaining, Viet Nam were able to successfully protect their net despite great efforts by Japan.

The friendly match was scheduled to help prepare the host for the World Cup's third qualifying round. Japan will play Tajikistan in the next few days in the Asian Zone's group C.

VNS