Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Viet Nam topped the Group A of the ASEAN Football Federation Futsal HDBank Championship after their 18-0 win over Brunei in HCM City yesterday.
With three wins, the hosts led the group and met their target of advancing to the semi-finals. They also secured a berth in the Asian Futsal Championship final next year.
Being one of two best teams in the region, Viet Nam met with no difficulty in setting up their domination over Brunei from the beginning.
Brunei played defensively, but they could not stop the Vietnamese players from scoring early.
Duc Hoa opened the result with a crossing finish just 45 seconds from the first whistle.
The hosts continued scoring six more goals in the first half by Quoc Hung, Thai Huy, Van Toan, Trong Luan, Ngo Ngoc Son and Quoc Nam.
Brunei was under heavy pressure in the second period. Viet Nam made a shower of goals with 11 successful finishes.
Thai Huy and Danh Phat netted a hat-trick each. Luan and Son added a double to their own hat-trick, while the last one went to Xuan Du.
After the match, coach Miguel Rodrigo of Viet Nam said it was not a difficult game for his side. Players were asked to score as many goals as possible to ensure they have the advantage of better goal difference when vying for the top position.
The Spaniard was satisfied with the team’s performance. The next step would be to secure the top position in the group and prepare for the last-four round, he said.
Viet Nam will vie for the top position in the group with Myanmar in the last qualifying round match at the Phu Tho Gymnasium today.
Rodrigo said the match against Myanmar would not be a piece of cake. Viet Nam played Myanmar in the recent Southeast Asian Games and Myanmar have shown great progress, he noted.
On the other side, coach Yonos Yusof of Brunei said Viet Nam were the toughest rivals among the three teams that they had met in this tournament. It was a team of strong players. Brunei tried to defend but did not succeed, he said.
Brunei will play the last match against the Philippines, who are at the same level, and Yusof hopes to secure a win before leaving Viet Nam.
Myanmar beat Indonesia 3-2 yesterday in a crucial tie to make the cut for the semi-finals. They have also qualified for the first time ever for the Asian championship.
“The game was very important. So we had to be patient and not react too quickly,” said Myanmar head coach Htay Myint on aseanfootball.org.
“The game was very close, but in the end, we were a little lucky to win this game, especially, when Indonesia went for the power play at the closing stage.”
Meanwhile, Indonesian head coach Vic Hermans said: “We were losing out in the one on one just like yesterday (against Viet Nam). This is the price we pay when we only train for months without playing any matches. We were just lacking in the defence.” — VNS