2019 AFC Asian Cup's Most Surprising Moments

#5 The Underdogs rose to the occasion

With a promise of an exciting tournament, the AFC Asian Cup saw two underdogs rise to the occasion and deliver a surprising performance that everyone didn't really expect.

Starting off with Thailand, who are are already a household name in the ASEAN region, and also have seven previous Asian Cup appearances under their belt and a third-place finish in 1972. They're still considered underdogs especially in the group they were put into this tournament.

Facing the hosts UAE, India and Bahrain in the group stages, Thailand was dealt with an early blow against India as the Sunil Chhetri-led squad marched onto a 4-1 victory against the five-time AFF Suzuki Cup champions.

However, they came back with a vengeance and went on to win their second match in the group stages against Bahrain courtesy of a goal from Chanathip Songkrasin in the 58th minute.

They then went on to shock the hosts UAE via 1-1 draw to finish second in group A with four points.

Into the knockout stages, Thailand continued to surprise when they scored first against China through Supachai Jaided, however, they conceded two second-half goals from Xiao Zhi and Gao Lin to send them crashing out of the tournament.

Another team that hugely surprised us was the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup champions Vietnam. They almost delivered a shock defeat to the 2007 Asian Cup winners Iraq when they scored two goals in the first half but the resilient Iraqis went on for a comeback to overturn the result in their favour.

In their second match, they lost to Iran 2-0 but that didn't seem to dampen their hopes. With pure optimism in their heads, Vietnam went on to win their pivotal match against Yemen courtesy of goals from Nguyen Quang Hai and Que Ngoc Hai which sent them to the round of 16 as another best third-place team in the competition.

They continued to surprise the everyone during the knockout stages when they went up against Jordan. Vietnam conceded a goal with six minutes remaining in the first half but they then went on to equalize on the 51st minute.

Nguyen Cong Phu'O'ng received a lovely cross inside the box from Nguyen Trong Hoang which he then tapped past the keeper. The match went to penalties where Vietnam emerged victorious with help from the crossbar as Faisal Mohammed missed his attempt from the spot followed by a save from Dang Van Lam against Samir Saleh's attempt. Bui Tien Dung capped off the victory through his calm and collected shot from the spot.

They were finally shown the exit doors by the four-time Asian Cup champions Japan courtesy of a penalty converted by Ritsu Doan. The penalty was awarded to the Blue Samurais after a review from the VAR saw Tien Dung tripping the scorer.

The success that Vietnam has achieved in this tournament could be credited to the wonders of their grassroots program. Park Hang-Seo opted to parade his young guns, consisting of almost an entire squad that he brought to the final of the AFC U-23 Championship against Uzbekistan. Truly, Vietnam surprised everyone with their cup run as well as made a statement that with a great foundation, a nation could really achieve the results they are hoping for.