After crushing Myanmar 7-1 and losing 2-0 to the Philippines in the two group matches, Vietnam (three points) needed to defeat Singapore in the last match to reach the semi-finals while Singapore (four points) needed only a draw to go further.
Vietnam started the do-or-die match with a series of attacks, creating many chances to score, while Singapore’s defence played solidly, waiting for chances to counter-attack. Trong Hoang’s shot in the 5th minute was blocked by goalkeeper Hassan Sunny’s super save. Vu Phong’s strike in the 10th minute was saved by Sunny and Thanh Luong shot wide of the left post three minutes later; Viet Cuong also fired wide of the right post in the 17th minute.
In a quick counter-attack, Agu Casmir missed a real chance to score when his powerful strike was saved by goalkeeper Tan Truong in the 28th minute.
In a flash counter-attack, Vu Phong gave Vietnam the lead when he met Thanh Luong’s cross and tapped it in across keeper Hassan Sunny to make 40,000 Vietnamese fans ecstatic.
After the goal, Singapore pushed in to equalise but wasted several chances to score. In the 60th minute Duric missed a real chance to equalise when his close range shot was blocked by goalie Tan Truong.
In the 63rd minute,Trong Hoang was sent off with a second yellow card and Vietnam had to play a defensive game. In the 78th minute, Duric’s strong header was saved by Tan Truong.
In the last minutes, Singapore intensified their attack but failed to convert several chances into goals and conceded a 0-1 loss to the hosts.
At a live broadcast press conference after the match, coach H. Calisto thanked his players for playing well and thanked the fans for their great support. For his part, Singaporean coach R. Avramovic stressed that his players tried their best but luck was not on their side.
At the same time, at Thien Truong stadium, the Philippines drew with Myanmar to qualify for the semis with five points.
Vietnam will play Malaysia, who rank second in Group A, in the two-leg semifinals on December 15 and 18. Meanwhile, Group A winners Indonesia will play the Philippines.
After the match, thousands of Vietnamese fans turned out in the streets to celebrate the national team’s victory.
