The 44,000 screaming crowds of My Dinh Stadium, Vietnam, were not enough to help Vietnam in overcoming the former Asian Cup champion, Japan in the final match of Group B. Vietnam who needed a draw to advance regardless the result of Qatar – UAE match, found it outplayed by Japan throughout the game. Vietnam lost 1 – 4 to Japan through a one sided battle on My Dinh stadium. It was really lucky since UAE beat Qatar 2 -1 to the Vietnam’s delight.

The match started in a balanced pace where both teams took turn in attacking each other and it seemed that Vietnam was due to another surprise performance where the host gained a lead in the 8^th minutes following Keita Suzuki own goal. Nguyen Vu Phong flew a corner kick where it was deflected by Keita Suzuki to Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi’s goal. The crowd at My Dinh stadium roared in approval of this goal. Vietnamese delight was short lived when Seichiro Maki intercepted Shunsuke Nakamura cross with his chest to beat Duong Hong Son, Vietnam goalkeeper.

Vietnam tried to gain an advantage although its effort failed miserably in the feet of Japanese defensive line. The host however refused to give up and continued to attack. In the 19^th minute Nguyen Vu Phong fired a long drive which missed Japan’s goals by several inches. It was Vietnam’s best chance in the first half. Japan took the leading role and scored a goal through Yasuhiko Endo’s free kick. Takahara was brought down by Huy Hoang almost exactly on the right edge of Vietnam’s penalty box. Yasuhiko Endo took a clever free kick and tricked Huong Dong Son who guessed wrongly and took wrong positioning to save Endo’s shot.

Japan displayed a stunning tick tack pass between Endo and Shunsuke Nakamura to bedazzle Vietnam’s defenders before Shunsuke Nakamura got his clear shot of the goal and hammered the ball from outside of the penalty box to the helpless Duong Hong Son. The game was set to belong to Japan following this goal since Vietnam had very hard time in penetrating Japan’s defense line. Seichiro Maki compounded his goal in the 60^th minute after receiving Endo pass.

Japan’s Coach, Ivica Osim, who saw this clear advantage quickly substituted Shunsuke Nakamura, Yasuhiko Endo and Seichiro Maki in order to avoid them getting booked unnecessarily and got suspended or injured. Japan continued to threaten Vietnam’s goal although failed to add another goals. Thanks to UAE, Vietnamese fans still had something to be happy about. Vietnam finally advanced from Group A alongside Japan after it claimed the second place with four points with UAE sat on the third place with three points and Qatar at the lowest with two points. Vietnam v Japan ended 4-1.