Beaten in semifinals, Vietnam face Myanmar in third-place playoff

Vietnam missed out on an anticipated final match with Thailand at the ongoing AFF Futsal Championship 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City, after succumbing to a humiliating 1-5 loss at the hands of Malaysia in the semifinal round on November 1.

Vietnam (in red) play a poor match against Malaysia.

Vietnam started the match with great confidence, inspired by the home advantage, as well as their four-game winning run in the group stage.

However, it was Malaysia who scored the opening goal of the game. Following the first 10 minutes of “tit for tat”, the deadlock was broken by the guest side as captain Khairul found the net from a freekick.

It was Khairul again who produced a solo performance on the left wing before driving a clever shot that beat Vietnamese keeper Van Huy for Malaysia’s second goal just one minute later.

The rapid two-goal deficit increased the pressure on Coach Miguel Rodrigo’s side, leading them to reveal “fatal” weaknesses and offer opportunities for their Malaysian opponents to deploy dangerous counterattacks.

Two additional goals were scored for Malaysia in the 14th and 15th minutes, thus wrapping up a humiliating first half for the home team.

With nothing to lose, Miguel Rodrigo decided to deploy a power-play strategy in the second half, with offensive pressure being constantly poured onto the Malaysian half.

Malaysia had to play with four men in the last few minutes after Abu was shown a red card in the 26th minute. However, the Vietnamese side failed to make use of this advantage to narrow the gap.

With time running out, Akmarul made it 5-0 for Malaysia before Ngoc Son managed to score a consolation goal for the host team.

The 1-5 defeat led Vietnam to miss the final clash with reigning champions Thailand, who easily crushed Myanmar 8-3 in the other semifinal.

Vietnam will again meet with Myanmar in the third-place match on November 3. In the group stage, Coach Miguel Rodrigo’s players beat their Myanmar opponents with a score of 3-0.

(Source: NDO)