VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam were denied a chance to win the trophy at the HCM City International Football Tournament after the team was held to a draw by Aspire Qatar.

Midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang opened the score but only one minute later Jasper equalised.

Striker Nguyen Dinh Tung put Viet Nam ahead just four minutes into the second half after a quick attack but once again Jasper evened the score with a shot in the area.

Viet Nam can finish second if they beat the Singaporean U-23 team in the last match and Aspire Qatar lose to the South Korean student team.

In the meantime, Aspire Qatar need to beat the South Koreans in the last match to win the title. The South Koreans only need a draw to lift the trophy.

"The score was a fair indicator, both teams had a chance to win the game," Vietnamese team's head coach Falko Goetz said.

"We had a bigger chance but we failed to score. Our defenders also made some errors."

The Vietnamese U-23 players put up a better performance early with Hoang and Nguyen Van Quyet in the starting line-up. They controlled the first 20 minutes of the match and created a bunch of opportunities but Quyet and striker Le Van Thang failed to convert.

The match became more balanced in the next 15 minutes with Aspire threatening Viet Nam's goal with long shots.

With one minute to interval, Hoang netted a powerful shot to put Viet Nam ahead but immediately Jasper took advantage of a lapse in the Vietnamese defence to equalise.

The second half went the same way, with the host team having more possession and more opportunities early. Only four minutes into the half, captain Tung put Viet Nam 2-1 with a quick shot from the edge of the area.

After the goal, host players were more excited and controlled the match but all a sudden, in a stumble in front of the goal, the ball fell to Jasper, who made no mistake to even the score in the 70th minute.

In the last five minutes, the fitter Aspire Qatar players scared home fans by putting a lot of pressure on Vietnamese U-23 team.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News