Malaysia hold Vietnam to qualify for Suzuki Cup final
HANOI: Malaysia turned in a gritty defensive display to hold Vietnam to a 0-0 draw yesterday and go through to the final of the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championships after 14 years.
Malaysia, who beat Vietnam 2-0 in the first-leg of the semi-finals at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday, qualify on a 2-0 aggregate. Coach K. Rajagopal’s men will play either Indonesia or the Philippines in the final. Indonesia, who beat the Philippines 1-0 in the first leg on Thursday, are the favourites to go through when they play the second leg today.
The young Malaysian team, who last qualified for the final at the inaugural championship in 1996 in Singapore, deserve a pat on the back for defying the odds to enter the final again.
Many had written off the young Malaysian team’s chances after their humiliating 1-5 thrashing by Indonesia in their opening Group A match at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Dec 1. But credit to the Malaysians for bouncing back with a vengeance, holding three-time champions Thailand 0-0 and destroying Laos 5-1 to make the semi-finals.
Last night, Vietnam coach Henrique Calisto made five changes to his starting line-up – leaving out both his first-team strikers Nguyen Anh Duc and Phan Thanh Hung and goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong. Malaysia, however, stuck with an almost same line-up, with right-back Mohd Sabree Mat Abu starting in place of Mahali Jasuli.
As expected, the fleet-footed Vietnamese, buoyed by the crowd at the My Dinh National Stadium here, came charging right from the first whistle, hoping to get an early goal. But the Malaysian defence stood firm to shut out most of the Vietnamese raids. Goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat was tested at least four times in the first-half. Nguyen Viet Thang had the first strike at goal but missed by inches before Khairul had to be alert to stop Pham Thanh Luong’s long-range attempt and a free header inside the box in the 14th and 17th minutes respectively.
At the half-hour mark, Malaysia nearly profited from a rare counter attack but Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal could not hit the target from inside the box. The Malaysian defence was in sixes and sevens at times but the back four of Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Shas (centrebacks), Mohd Sabree Mat Abu (rightback) and Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar (leftback) managed to keep Vietnam at bay. The second-half started the way the first ended – with Vietnam attacking and Malaysia defending furiously. Still, Malaysia had a chance kill off their opponents in the 52nd minute but Mohd Amirulhadi’s final touch inside the box let him down.
Ten minutes later Vietnam should have scored but Viet Thang’s point-blank header went straight to goalkeeper Khairul. Vietnam brought on striker Anh Duc for Viet Thang in the 65th minute but, six minutes later, they were down to 10 men when Pham Thanh Luong was sent off by referee Kim Sang-woo of South Korea for diving. Malaysia continued to live dangerously despite having the luxury of an extra man. In the end, it did not matter as the Malaysians hung on to send the defending champions packing.
The teams
VIETNAM: Duong Hong Son, Doan Viet Cuong, Le Phuoc Tu, Tran Dinh Dong, Vu Nhu Thanh, Nguyen Viet Thang (Nguyen Anh Duc), Nguyen Trong Hoang, Nguyen Minh Phuong, Nguyen Vu Phong, Pham Thanh Luong, Phan Van Tai Em (Le Tan Tai).
MALAYSIA: Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Mohd Sabree Mat Abu (Mahali Jasuli), Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar, Safiq Rahim, Norsharul Idlan Talaha (Mohd Amri Yahyah), Mohd Safee Sali, Amar Rohidan, S. Kunalan, Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal (Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin), Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Shas.
*Malaysia will play Indonesia in the AFF Suzuki Cup Final
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