TEN-man Bahrain crashed out of the football tournament yesterday at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.
Bahrain conceded a goal just two minutes from regular time to Vietnam in the round of 16 to bow out in agony.
Substitute Cong Phuong Nguyen scored the winning goal for the Vietnamese, who now march through to the quarter-finals.
Also advancing to the last eight yesterday were Syria, Uzbekistan and defending champions South Korea. Syria beat Palestine 1-0, Uzbekistan eased past Hong Kong 3-0 and South Korea overcame Iran 2-0.
Vietnam take on Syria in the quarter-finals while Uzbekistan face South Korea.
Another four round of 16 matches are scheduled for today. China play Saudi Arabia, Malaysia take on Japan, Indonesia face the UAE and Bangladesh duel with North Korea.
Bahrain went a man down during an eventful first-half after midfielder Ahmed Sanad was shown the red card with only three minutes left for the break.
Caught
Sanad caught the ankle of Vietnamese defender Quang Thanh van Vu in an one-footed challenge and Chinese referee Lei Zhang had no hesitation in giving a stunned Sanad his marching orders.
The match remained goalless at the interval but the Vietnamese made the most of their one-man advantage in the second-half.
They had a few chances at breaking the deadlock but it wasn’t until the 88th minute that they were rewarded for their efforts.
Forward Van Toan Nguyen hit an initial shot that was blocked by Bahraini defender Hamad Alshamsan, but the rebound went directly in the path of an unmarked Cong Phuong Nguyen, who made no mistake with his effort.
Bahrain tried their best to find a late equaliser but never really had any serious opportunities.
Their best chance came in the first-half when they should have been awarded a goal through Ahmed Bughammar.
The hard-working defender pounced on a high cross from the left and slid the ball home from close range but the linesman deemed him offside and the goal was cancelled. Television replays, however, clearly showed that Bughammar was not off-side.
Bahrain’s Abdulrahman Ahmedi also had a fine attempt in the opening period. But his powerful strike, from the centre of the box following a corner kick clipped the top of the crossbar and went out.