HANOI (26 Nov 2014) –Vietnam staged a late surge to beat Laos 3-0 in the second match of Group A at the My Dinh National Stadium to join the Philippines in the semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup this year.
The Philippines had already booked their place in the next round following their pulverising 4-0 win over Indonesia.
But while the Philippines were all conquering, hosts Vietnam found it hard going against a resilient Laos side who were determined to prevent the homester from scoring an overwhelming victory.
“Laos were disciplined in their defending but we had more attacking options,” said Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura. “We were better in the second half and we got the goals we were looking for.
“Some player played well while others did not fare too well. There will be some changes for sure for the next match.”
Coming off from their much criticised 2-2 draw against Indonesia in their first game, Vietnam were all business as they rarely allowed Laos the chance to go forward.
And to show that they mean business, Lao had even placed lanky striker Khampheng Sayavuthi in a defensive position at the heart of defence to fend off Le Cong Vinh and also Nguyen Van Quyet at bay.
After some persistent pressure, Vietnam finally gave the 10,000 fans something to cheer when Vu Minh Tuan came from the far post to slot home the cross from Nguyen Anh Duc.
With the score at just 1-0 at the half Vietnam were under pressure to increase their goal. But try as hard as they may, the Laos defence refused to budge up until seven minutes to the end when they made their first change by bringing in Phoutthasay Khochalern for Vilayout Sayyabounsou.
And with Khampheng moving up to his natural position upfront, it left gaps at the back which allowed Vietnam to exploit. And just a minute later, Vietnam duly got their second goal when Cong Vinh latched on to a cross from Minh Tuan.
A minute to the end, they nailed goal No. 3 when Nguyen Huy Hung slammed home from close range.
“We defended well where the game plan was to prevent them from scoring. And if they did manage to score, we will stop them from scoring lots of goals,” added Laos coach David Booth.
“For a while it worked and really Vietnam only managed to add to the one goal score line from the first half when we made changes in the second half.”
