Viet Nam defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the third match of the Group A qualifying round at the Southeast Asian Games yesterday to move one step closer to the semi-finals.

Viet Nam defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the third match of the Group A qualifying round at the Southeast Asian Games yesterday. (Photo: VNN)

In a late match from the same group yesterday, Cambodia beat East Timor 4-1.

With the support of fans at Vientiane’s Anouvong Stadium, Viet Nam started peacefully, defended watertight and controlled the ball well to make effective attacks.

Head coach Mai Duc Chung of the Becamex Binh Duong club, said, “Viet Nam’s honourable win showed the players’ skills and self-confidence in the very difficult match. There were many chances for goals, so if we can take full advantage of these chances, we can raise our score.”

“In this match, Vietnamese players played better compared to the match with Thailand and East Timor,” Chung added.

The match also saw Thanh Binh’s effort, as he co-ordinated well with his teammates to make a good final for Viet Nam.

“Binh showed his skill and spirit when he was asked to re-do a second penalty kick, and ended up making it better than the first,” said football commentator Le Kien.

Viet Nam team played offence from the opening whistle and the first chance for the team came in the third minute of the match, as Tien Thanh sent home the ball from a pass by Trong Hoang, but the ball was just off the goal.

Five minutes later, Viet Nam enjoyed a penalty due to a Malaysian player’s error, and Thanh Binh opened the score for Viet Nam.

In the 24th minute, Malaysia had a chance, but goalie Tan Truong saved the day.

The second chance fell to Viet Nam in the 25th minute, when Thanh Binh overcame the challenges of Malaysian defenders to pass the ball to Tien Thanh to double the score for Viet Nam.

Only two minutes later, defender Hoang Quang made an error, and Malaysia narrowed the gap 2-1.

After that bad luck, Viet Nam regrouped and attacked Malaysia’s defenders. Star Trong Hoang received a co-ordinated pass from Thanh Luong and Thanh Binh and succeeded in lifting the score to 3-1.

After the break, Malaysia dominated the first minutes but they couldn’t break the Vietnamese defenders.

In the rest of match, both Viet Nam and Malaysia had several chances to score goals, but they all missed.

Viet Nam will meet Cambodia for their last qualifier match next Friday.

Women’s team wins gold

The national women’s football team also went into battle to grab gold at the SEA Games. They kept the scorekeepers busy, thrashing Malaysia 8-0 in the first qualifier yesterday.

The national women’s football team kept the scorekeepers busy, thrashing Malaysia 8-0 in the first qualifier yesterday. (Photo: VNN)

In past years, Viet Nam has been a dominant powerhouse at SEA Games in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Viet Nam dominated the match and scored goals with ease. In the 18th minute Viet Nam opened the score thanks to the labours of Kim Chi, who scored another goal in the 86th minute.

In this match, Minh Nguyet scored a hat trick for Viet Nam. Other outstanding players were Nguyen Thi Muon, Kim Hong and Van Thi Thanh.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News