Photo: Hanoi Football Club.

FC Altyn Asyr will play with the Vietnamese FC Hanoi in the 2019 AFC Cup Inter-zone play-off semi-final. The rivals will hold the first match on August 20 in Vietnam. The return match will be held on August 27 in Turkmenistan.

This became known after FC Hanoi won two matches against compatriots from Becamex Binh Duong FC with a total score of 2:0 and excelled in the ASEAN Zone. A week ago, in the first final match of this zone, FC Hanoi celebrated a victory - 1:0. With the same score in favor of FC Hanoi, the home match ended today. After 61 minutes, the hosts received a corner. A feed from the right edge followed. The goalkeeper of the guests did not hold the ball at the top, and Pape Omar Faye, who was right there, redirected him into the goal.

FC Hanoi is the four-time champion of Vietnam, in which the Nigerian Ganiyu Bolaji Oseni and Senegalese Pape Omar Faye are among the leaders in the list of scorers of the 2019 AFC Cup. Ganiyu has 9 goals, Faye has 8.

As the head coach of the national team of Turkmenistan Ante Miše noted in an interview with Turkmenportal, the FC Hanoi lost the last time about 2-3 months ago. Indeed, the last defeat of the team dates back to May 11, 2019, when it lost to Thanh Hoa FC - 1:4, as part of the Vietnam Championship.

We also note that FC Hanoi is well known to the Turkmen footballer Amir Gurbani, who plays in the Cambodian FC Nagaworld. On February 26, as part of the 2019 AFC Cup group stage, FC Hanoi defeated the FC Nagaworld 10:0. This is the biggest victory in the current season of AFC Cup.

The first  Inter-zone play-off semi-final match of the 2019 AFC Cup FC Altyn Asyr and FC Hanoi will be held on August 20 at the Hangday Stadium. The game will begin at 19:00 (Hanoi time). The return match will take place on August 27 at the Kopetdag Stadium in Ashgabat. The match starts at 17:00.

The winner of the two matches will play in the Inter-zone final of the 2019 AFC Cup with the winner of the pair Abahani Limited (Bangladesh) - April 25 Sports Club (DPR Korea). Inter-zonal finals will take place on September 25 and October 2.

The winners of the Inter-Zone Final will then progress to the grand finale of the AFC Cup 2019 where they will face the winners of the West Asia Zonal Final between Jordan’s Al Jazeera Club and Lebanon’s Al Ahed FC. 

The final match of the 2019 AFC Cup will be played on November 2.

AFC Cup 2019 Knockout Stages Fixtures

• Inter-Zone Play-Off Semifinal 1 – Hanoi FC vs Altyn Asyr FC – August 20 & 27
• Inter-Zone Play-Off Semifinal 2 – Abahani Dhaka vs April 25 SC – August 21 & 28
• Inter-Zone Final – Winner Inter-Zone SF1 vs Winner Inter-Zone SF2 – September 25 & October 2
• West Asian Zonal Final – Al Jazeera Club vs Al Ahed FC – September 24 & October 1
• Final – Winner Inter-Zone Final vs Winner West Asia Zonal Final