Vietnam edge closer to last four after East Timor joy

Malaysia KO Thailand; Singapore grab first win

By Vu Duc - The Saigon Times Daily

Vietnam’s defender Au Van Hoan (C) celebrates his goal during their SEA Games football match against East Timor at Lebak Bulus Stadium in Indonesia on Wednesday - Photo: TTXVN

HCMC – Vietnam’s U23 side made the nation sweat a little but still managed to overcome ten-man East Timor 2-0 in the 26th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at Lebak Bulus Stadium in Indonesia on Wednesday, while Myanmar thrashed Brunei 4-0 to secure top spot in Group B.

German coach Falko Goetz again rang the changes after a dismal 0-0 draw with Myanmar. Defender Nguyen Thanh Long Giang made his debut in the tournament and striker Nguyen Hoang Thien and goalkeeper Huynh Buu Ngoc were back on from the start while the Timorese shock-troops started with their strongest side.

East Timor were confident after two wins in a row and they put pressure on Vietnam from the first whistle, which seemed to shock their more illustrious opponents who were forced to bide their time.

The Timorese had a few opportunities but couldn’t take advantage and Vietnam slowly but surely were coming to life in a must-win game.

Midfielder Pham Thanh Luong missed a tremendous opportunity before the Timorese were surprisingly reduced to ten men.

Murilo, who has scored three goals for East Timor in the tournament, was red carded for a foul on defender Chu Ngoc Anh in the 25th minute.

Vietnam, who were off the pace, must have someone up there looking out for them and they tried in vain to make their man advantage count before the interval to no avail.

The goal duly arrived, though, in the 52nd minute when midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang slotted home after a pass from defender Au Van Hoan.

It was one-way traffic now and Hoan slotted home in the 63rd minute to seal victory.

Meanwhile, Myanmar thrashed Brunei 4-0 in the earlier game on Wednesday. The goals came from Kyaw Zeyar in the sixth minute, Min Thu in the 32nd minute, Ko Ko after 65 minutes and Kyl Lin in the 81st minute.

After three games, Vietnam and Myanmar are on seven points each with the latter top on goal difference. Third-placed East Timor have six points while Brunei and Laos have one point each with Philippines pointless.

Vietnam now meet Brunei at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday at Lebak Bulus Stadium while Philippines fight it out with Laos at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow at the same venue.

* Defending champions Malaysia secured their first win at the tournament after beating Thailand 2-1 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Wednesday, while Singapore sneaked past Cambodia 2-1 in the later game.

The Malaysians dominated the game from start to finish with captain Baddrol Bakhtiar opening the scoring in the 24th minute with a tremendous strike.

The second half was the same story as the Malaysians controlled the vast majority of possession but they failed to kill off Thailand and when sub Natarid Thammarossopon equalized in the 77th minute it looked like they would regret those missed opportunities.

However, Malaysian sub Izzaq Faris helped his side secure victory with a superb shot with just three minutes to go.

Singapore and Malaysia are joint top of the group on four points from two games. Indonesia have three points from a 6-0 win over Cambodia in their opener, while Thailand and Cambodia have one point each.

Singapore will meet hosts Indonesia tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, while Thailand will take on Cambodia at 5:00 p.m. at the same venue.

The 26th SEA Games will draw athletes from 11 countries to compete in 42 events for 545 medals in Jakarta and Palembang cities. The SEA Games’ opening ceremony is tomorrow and the closing ceremony is on November 22.

Vietnam has 608 athletes competing in 36 sporting events and the nation’s sporting delegation is targeting at least 70 gold medals and a top three finish. The 25th SEA Games saw Vietnam finish second with 83 gold medals behind Thailand.