Futsal 

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam have won a second match, beating Malaysia 2-0 to move one step closer to the knockout stage of the ASEAN Futsal Championship 2024 on November 4 in Korat, Thailand.

Malaysia, which rested in the first round, definitely spent lot of time researching Việt Nam from the stands. They successfully blocked Vietnamese players from opening attacks, while creating a lot of  pressure on the two-time World Cup participants in the first half.

But goalkeeper Phạm Văn Tú of Việt Nam denied all of their finishes and his efforts also helped encourage his teammates before they began the second half.

Just five minutes after the break, Nguyễn Thịnh Phát converted a corner-kick into the opener, but after checking the video support system the main referee refused the goal and asked Việt Nam to play again.

But only two minutes later, it was 1-0 to Việt Nam as Từ Minh Quang succeeded with a penalty, following a handball of a Malaysian player in the box.

Malaysia tried to open more attempts to dig into Việt Nam's defence for an equaliser, but they made a mistake at the 34th minute and the ball came to Phát whose left-foot finish found the back of Malaysian net.

Malaysia switched to power-play in the last few minutes, all players including the goalkeeper were asked to take part in attacks to find a complimentary goal. However, Việt Nam resisted all their attempts.

With the second win, Việt Nam maintain their second place in Group A, behind Thailand which beat Timor Leste 7-1.

In the other match of Group A, Timor Leste found their first win, beating Brunei 5-3.

In the next fixture, on November 5, Việt Nam will see Brunei while Malaysia will meet Thailand.

Also on November 4, Indonesia put nine past Cambodia in Group B.

Indonesia went ahead scoring five goals in the first half plus an own goal from Cambodian side.

Three more goals added in the second half confirmed the team's determination to take the group's top spot.

Meanwhile, Myanmar battled Australia to a 3-3 draw.

Wade Matthew Giovenali scored a double and Ethan De Melo took one for Australia, while it was Mai Soe Myat Htwe, Naing Linn Tun Kyaw and Htut Wai Tun netted for Myanmar. 

They share the second place in the rankings, with Cambodia at the bottom.

For their next matches, Indonesia will play Australia and Cambodia will face Myanmar. VNS