Vietnam ease to semis at regional futsal champs

Vietnam national futsal team earned their second consecutive resounding victory at the on-going ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on November 6, beating Timor Leste 8-1 to book their early ticket to the semi-finals.

Vietnam’s Manh Dung (in red) in action against Timor Leste players. (Photo: ĐL)
Vietnam’s Manh Dung (in red) in action against Timor Leste players. (Photo: ĐL)

* Vietnam crushes Brunei 9-0 at AFF Futsal Championship

In their second match of Group B yesterday evening, Vietnam were prominent after beating Brunei 9-0 a day earlier, while underdogs Timor Leste lost to Thailand 14-0 in their opening match.

Manager Miguel Rodrigo’s side opened the scoring right in the third minute thanks to Quoc Hung’s effort. However, Timor Leste immediately dazzled with a surprise equaliser one minute later, with Almerio’s powerful hammer beating Vietnamese keeper Ho Van Y.

The conceded goal woke the Vietnamese up as Rodrigo's men scored four consecutive goals by That Phi, Van Tien and Thanh Tin during the remainder of the first half, holding a 5-1 lead at the break.

Anh Tai (in red) scores a brace against Timor Leste. (Photo: ĐL)

In the second half, the dominant side maintained their control over the match and scored three additional goals, with one by Van Tien and Anh Tai’s brace, to wrap up the 40-minute game at 8-1.

Two wins in a row helps Vietnam book their slot at the semis with one game in hand, scoring 17 goals and conceding only one. The team are on par with table leaders Thailand with six points after two matches, but ranked second as lower goal difference (+16) compare to their rivals (+31). Thailand also book their early ticket to the semi-finals after destroying Brunei 17-0 the same day.

Vietnam will next play Thailand in their last group match for the top spot later today.

Group B rankings after the first two rounds.