With nothing to lose, the Vietnamese team fought back fiercely from 2-0 down against Sierra Leone to win 5-4.

Vietnam’s U22 football team booked the Merdeka Cup final after beating Sierra Leone Thursday in a penalty shootout.

The Vietnamese team came from two goals down to make it 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes. No goals were scored in the 30 minutes of extra time, and two saves by goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong in the shootout saw Vietnam through.

Forward Nguyen Duc Thien, who scored the equalizer, and goalie Bui Tan Truong, who saved two shots by Sierra Leone’s players during the shootout, were the heroes for Vietnam.

Battling a strong team of big players, Vietnam played counterattack in a 4-2-3-1 formation with striker Phan Thanh Binh pulled back to support midfielders Nhat Nam and Cong Huy.

Wingers Dinh Tung and Danh Ngoc played behind the midfielders to support the defenders.

The arrangement proved a success as the Vietnamese team played well in the first 38 minutes of the match despite relentless pressure from Sierra Leone.

However, the African team capitalized on a fast attack to take the lead in the 39th minute. The situation got worse for Vietnam 23 minutes into the second half after a mix-up in the defense saw Sierra Leone increase their tally to two.

With nothing to lose, the Vietnamese team fought back fiercely. Coach Mai Duc Chung threw Trinh Quang Vinh in to replace Tang Tuan and Duc Thien came in for Danh Ngoc.

The changes strengthened the front line and the results were not long in coming. Just four minutes after the second goal for the African team, Vinh looped the ball over the Sierra Leone custodian into the back of the net to pull one back and give some hope for his team.

In higher spirits, Vietnam launched continuous attacks with strikers Binh and Thien creating some scoring chances. In the 87th minute, Thien proved his oustanding skills by sprinting and turning suddenly to get past a Sierra Leone defender before slotting home the equalizer.

Neither team was able to create scoring chances during extra time, and the match had to be decided on the penalty shootout.

Sierra Leone found the net with their first shot, but over the next four, two were saved and one was shot wide. For Vietnam, Binh and Nam scored with the first two shots, midfielder Huy missed the third, but striker Thien made no mistake with the fourth.

The win has pleased Vietnamese fans as the team now has the chance to win the Merdeka Cup as it participates in it for the first time since 1966, when a pre-unification team from South Vietnam won the tournament.

The Merdeka Cup is a football tournament organized by Malaysia to mark its National Day. The oldestinternational football tournament in Asia, it has been held annually from 1957 to 1988, but only seven times from 1989 to 2007.

After the match, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) General Secretary Tran Quoc Tuan called to congratulate the team and announced a cash prize of VND150 million.

VFF Vice President Le Hung Dung said the football governing body would offer the team another VND100 million if they win the final.

Vietnam will now play the winner of the other semifinal match, which will either be Myanmar or the host team Malaysia.

Reported by Dang Khoa