Dinh Bao (R) scores twice in Vietnam’s 3-1 win over Malaysia.

Vietnam’s U19 team beat the much fancied Malaysians 3-1 in an incident-plagued match on Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the International U21 Football Tournament in Binh Duong.

But the dynamic Vietnamese youngsters like Quoc Phuong, Hai Huy, Hoang Thinh and Van Quyet had other ideas.

The visitors took the lead after 10 minutes when unmarked Devandran scored from close range after taking a pass from Thamil Arasu.

Vietnam was unbowed and responded in kind less than ten minutes later when striker Dinh Bao sent the ball into the net after Quoc Phuong’s shot at goal bounced off the post.

Mid-way through the first half, the Malaysians were clearly under pressure from the same team they had defeated 3-1 at the Pre-SEA Games in Laos a week earlier, and that’s when the trouble began.

When Shaharuddin was given a red card for tackling Quoc Phuong, his team mates lost their heads and their coach Ong Kim Swee started haranguing Thai referee Sura Sriart.

The situation got worse in the 66th minute when Phuong fired a long-range shot to make it 2-1 for Vietnam.

With Swee and his assistants becoming even more vocal in their complaints, the referee had no choice but to red-card the spiteful Malaysian coach, who immediately ordered his players from the field.

With one player more than the opponents, Vietnam had the upper hand when play resumed after seven minutes, and Dinh Bao duly scored his second goal of the match.

In Group A of the third Thanh Nien-sponsored tournament, Singapore scored a 3-1 victory over Thailand on Sunday to back up their 3-2 win over Vietnam’s U21 side two days earlier.

Vietnam’s U21s need a draw or win against Thailand in the final group match on Tuesday to get into the semifinals, while the U19 players don’t have to care about the result of their clash with China in Group B.

The youngsters were brought into the tournament to fill the spot vacated by reigning champions Iran just days before kickoff.

Source: Thanh Nien