Viet Nam News
Football
HA NOI — Viet Nam stopped their title dream at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U22 Championship 2019 after losing to Indonesia 0-1 in the semi-finals yesterday.
The game was held at the Cambodia National Stadium, Phnom Penh.
A devilish free kick of Muhammad Luthfi in the 69th minute helped Indonesia beat Viet Nam to enter the final match.
Viet Nam didn’t have the best line-up in this game due to injuries so it affected their way of playing much.
Indonesia controlled the game with counter attacks since the opening whistle. Viet Nam then caught up with the speed of the game but they met difficulties in breaking the defence line of their rival.
The first half took place slowly and no goals were scored.
After the break, Indonesia fought back strongly to seek goals.
The chance came to them in the 48th minute as Marius Warewar headed nearly Vietnamese goal but goalie Phan Van Bieu was up to the task.
Viet Nam then seemed to be exhausted because of hot sun. They were continuously besieged so coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan decided to use striker Le Minh Binh to strengthen the attack line.
In the 60th minute, Viet Nam created another chance. Taking full advantage of an Indonesian midfielder’s error, their forward Tran Duc Nam faced goalie Awen Setho Raharjo but Raharjo was comfortable to save it.
Only nine minutes later, Luthfi finally broke the deadlock. He was stepped up to take the free kick and his shot took a small deflection off the defensive wall and Vietnamese goalkeeper Bieu could only watch as it landed in the net.
Striker Tran Danh Trung had Viet Nam’s last chance of the game, but his freekick from just outside the target failed to hit the target.
Viet Nam will vie for the third place of the tournament with Cambodia, who lost to Thailand 3-5 in the penalty shootout following the goalless draw in the main and extra time in the other semi-finals, tomorrow. — VNS