Down to 10 men in the final 20 minutes, Vietnam fought to a scoreless away draw against with Syria in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 Asian Cup.

The bigger Syrians had more scoring chances than Vietnam but neither teams failed to capitalize.

Top striker Le Cong Vinh received the second yellow card and left the field 20 minutes from full time after the referee ruled that Vinh had played the ball with his hand.

The Vietnamese team were put in a difficult position after Vinh’s departure but they kept the opponents at bay until the final whistle.

With one point from the draw, Syria now has 10 points and has become the first team from Group D to qualify for the Asian Cup finals in Qatar in 2011.

Vietnam with four points is still in third place, two points adrift of second-placed China.

In the final two matches of the qualifying round, Vietnam will play Lebanon away and China at home.

If China can beat Lebanon on Sunday, it will move forward with five points clear of Vietnam and make it very hard for the current hosts because only the best two teams from a group can qualify for the finals in Qatar.

Source: Thanh Nien