Vietnam demolish Brunei 6-0 in SEA Games opener

Vietnam enjoyed a sweet start to their hunt for the men’s football gold medal at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games by crushing Brunei 6-0 in their Group B opener at Singapore's Bishan Stadium on May

Thanh Binh celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Vietnam. (Credit: vnexpress.net)

The opening minutes of the match were kept under Vietnam’s control with several chances to open the scoring created for the red-colour team, notably the 22nd-minute close-range shot by Ngoc Thang that unfortunately went off the cross bar.

However, Vietnamese fans did not have to wait long to celebrate the opener as just three minutes later, Thanh Binh successfully converted Ngoc Thang’s right-wing pass into a goal with a touch cunning enough to beat Bruneian goalkeeper Mohd HJ Mohd.

Inspired by the goal, Vietnam played more confidently and constantly put the Bruneian goal at risk with two additional scoring opportunities spared for Ngoc Thang and Ngoc Thinh in the 26th and 27th minutes respectively.

Brunei came close to leveling the game as the first half had a few minutes left to play; however, Hamir’s close-range finish was not accurate enough to help Brunei restore the parity before the break whistle rang.

After the interval, Vietnamese coach Toshiya Miura sent the most anticipated strikers, Nguyen Cong Phuong and Mac Hong Quan, to field in replacement of Huy Hung and Thanh Binh, making the second half a real nightmare for Brunei.

Cong Phuong earmarked a convenient 46th-minute pass enabling Phi Son to double Vietnam’s lead before securing his first SEA Games goal 36 minutes later. Meanwhile, Hong Quan also lived up to expectations with a goal that made it 3-0 for Vietnam in the 75th minute.

The remaining two goals were scored by Duc Huy and Manh Hung in the 78th and 89th minute respectively.

The resounding victory was a marvelous start for the Vietnam U-23 football team in their goal of winning the long-standing SEA Games gold medal.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)