Futsal team suffers first loss to Thailand at SEA Games 29

Despite increased efforts in the second half, Vietnam’s male futsal team lost to their Thai rivals 1-4 in the first match, on August 18, at the ongoing 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Malaysia.

The clash was considered as a “final” match in the futsal event at this year’s SEA Games, as both Vietnam and Thailand were title favourites before kick-off. Five teams will compete in the event, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and hosts Malaysia. The teams will compete in a round robin format to decide the top three teams who will receive medals.

The Vietnam futsal team (in red) could not earn a point after suffering a 1-4 loss to Thailand (in white) during their first clash at the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia, August 18. (Credit: thanhnien.vn)

Although Thailand have long been the regional powerhouse in futsal, the strong progress of Vietnam futsal in the past two years had created hopes for the gold medal at SEA Games 29. The Vietnamese players caused a range of difficulties for their strong opponents during their first match.

Although beginning the match with caution, the Vietnam team soon threatened the Thailand goal as Thai Huy forced the Thai keeper to prove his shot stopping ability with a ferocious strike.

Thailand did not create many chances but fortunately for them, after just ten minutes, they scored the opening goal from a 6m free kick thanks to Suphawut.

Vietnam immediately rushed to find the leveler and created at least four scoring opportunities, however, Minh Tri, Xuan Du and Duc Hoa could not convert any of the chances into goals.

In the 18th minutes, the Vietnamese defensive line was broken again, allowing Ousman Mussa to finish and widen the gap to 2-0 for Thailand.

In the second half, the situation was more difficult for Vietnam, as Thailand played an effective counter-attack and Mussa earned his second to make it 3-0.

In the 27th minute, Minh Tri turned the ball very quickly to shorten the gap to 1-3 and bring hope of a comeback for the Vietnam team.

Vietnam had just 13 minutes remaining to score two goals and force a tie and during that time a series of scoring opportunities were missed by the Vietnamese strikers. In the 38th minute, Duc Hoa missed a golden chance when his finish hit the post.

Only one minute later, Thailand took advantage of Minh Tri's mistake to make it 4-1 through Suphawut’s goal, ending the hope of a Vietnamese comeback.

The chances of winning the gold medal is not high for Vietnam after losing this decisive match, but the silver medal is still feasible, as in their remaining four games Vietnam will face much weaker opponents. The team will continue their SEA Games campaign against hosts Malaysia on August 20.

Earlier in the morning, Vietnam’s female futsal team also lost to their Thai rivals 1-3 in the first match.

The female futsal event also witnesses the five same teams as in the male category, competing in a round robin format to decide the medal set. The first match between Vietnam and Thailand was also considered the "final" of the tournament.

The Vietnamese female players will next compete with the hosts in the second match on August 22.

(Source: NDO)