AFF FUTSAL: Vietnam, Indonesia complete semi-final cast

BANGKOK (22 April 2012) – The cast for the AFF Futsal Championship semifinals is complete. Vietnam and Indonesia made sure of their spots in the last four after winning their respective group matches at the Bangkok Thonburi Stadium evening.

Earlier in the afternoon session, seven-time defending champions Thailand and Malaysia had booked their semifinal slots following victories over Myanmar and Timor Leste.

All four teams won their first three matches and have a maximum of nine points each. All that’s left now is to find out the line-up for the semifinals. This, however, will only be decided tomorrow after the last group matches are held.

In the third match of the day, Cambodia put up a brave fight before eventually going down 4-1 to Vietnam in a Group A tie. Vietnam had taken the lead during a two-minute first half blitz that saw Pham Thanh Dat and Phung Trong Luan hit the mark.

Cambodia came charging back minutes later when I Sothearith flicked to an unmarked Prom Yaneat on the right and he easily tapped it in. Cambodia worked tirelessly to get the equaliser but in the end, it was Vietnam who raced further ahead.

In another smashing blitz, Vietnam scored twice in as many minutes through Pham Thanh Tuan (33rd) and Nguyen Trong Thien (34th) to ensure full points today and more importantly their place in the semifinals.

In the final match of the day, a Group B fixture, Indonesia did not have much problems putting down an early Laos assault to claim a 12-2 victory tonight. The Laos players surprisingly took the fight to their opponents and could have easily gone at least two goals up in the first few minutes but poor finishing put an end to their hopes.

Things changed for good in the seventh minute when Randhyas Syamsul Bahri raced down the middle and blasted his team ahead. The bench was on its feet just a minute later as Andri Kustiawan doubled the score.

Indonesia struck three times in two minutes through Karami Balfas, Fachri Reza and Roni Alamsyah before Rahmad Budiman rounded it up to 6-0 before the break.

Laos had a better second half and created more chances for themselves, and their efforts were rewarded by two goals from the speedy Chantavong Anouthone. Indonesia’s other goals came from Randhyas (22nd), Rahmad (28th, 37th), Karami (32nd), Roni (38th) and Septian Cahya (40th).

Indonesia will face Thailand at 4.30pm while Malaysia and Vietnam square-off at 2pm tomorrow.

PIX: Indonesia’s Karami Balfas (in red/white kit) dribbles past Laos’ Kita Souksabai (in all blue kit)

AFF FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 FIXTURES and RESULTS

Date	Match No.	Group	Match		Time	Venue	SCORE
19-Apr-12	1 2 3 4	A A B B	Cambodia vs Malaysia Myanmar vs Philippines Timor Leste vs Indonesia Laos vs Brunei DS		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	0 – 8 4 – 5 1 – 16 8 – 6
20-Apr-12	5 6 7 8	A A B B	Philippines vs Vietnam Myanmar vs Cambodia Brunei DS vs Thailand Laos vs Timor Leste		1130 1400 1700 1930	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	1 – 6 7 – 6 0 – 22 4 – 3
21-Apr-12	9 10 11 12	A B A B	Vietnam vs Myanmar Thailand vs Laos Malaysia vs Philippines Indonesia vs Brunei DS		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	3 – 0 26 – 2 4 – 1 9 – 2
22- Apr-12	13 14 15 16	A B A B	Myanmar vs Malaysia Timor Leste vs Thailand Cambodia vs Vietnam Laos vs Indonesia		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium	0 – 5 1 – 19 1 – 4 2 – 12
23-Apr-12	17 18 19 20	A A B B	Philippines vs Cambodia Malaysia vs Vietnam Indonesia vs Thailand Brunei DS vs Timor Leste		1130 1400 1630 1900	Bangkok Thonburi Stadium
24-Apr	Rest Day
25- Apr-12	21 22	SF1 SF2	Winner A vs Runner-up B Winner B vs Runner-up A	1400 1700		Bangkok Thonburi
26-Apr	Rest Day
27- Apr-12	23 24	3rd/4th Final	Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2	1400 1700		Bangkok Thonburi