AFF WOMEN’S: Vietnam Win But Yun Fa From Satisfied

HO CHI MINH CITY (15 Sept 2012) – On a wet afternoon here at the Thong Nhat Stadium, hosts Vietnam carved out their second win from two matches in Group A of the AFF Women’s Championship 2012 but chief coach Chen Yun Fa is far from satisfied with the performance of his girls.

The Vietnamese – the losing semi-finalists a year ago – were the dominant side as they scored two goals in each half to collect their second full points of the competition when they beat the Philippines 4-2.

But as Yun Fa said afterwards, conceding the two goals is bad for the team which is looking to win their first AFF crown since 2006.

“I’m not at all satisfied with the way they played,” said Yun Fa. “They took things too easy and that cost the team the two goals. We have to improve.’

Considering the ground condition, it was always going to be a difficult afternoon for either team. While Vietnam were looking to inject more confidence as champion material, the Philippines were hoping to put up a better performance than they did in their first match against Myanmar.

The Philippines seem to be a lot more organised but against the speedier Vietnam girls, they were always going to struggle with the crosses from the flanks. In the 17^th minute, a shot from Nguyen Thi Lieu from the right was not cleared by Philippines keeper Inna Palacios and the waiting Nguyen Thi Muon did not have wait for an invitation to score.

Philippines tried to exert more control at the centre of the park by pulling back Heather Cooke and to some extent she managed to fend off the onslaught. But in the 25^th minute, there was no way back for Palacios when Nguyen Thi Kim Tien blasted in the second goal that came off the underside of the crossbar and into goal.

With the score at 2-0 to the hosts at the break, the Philippines continued to push forward and just eight minutes into the second half, they grabbed their first goal of the game when Cooke pounced on a defensive mistake with Vietnam keeper Le Thi Tuyet Main way off her line.

Getting their first goal of the competition was just what the Philippines needed and as they went forward in search of their second goal, they were punished for the third time when off a Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet corner in the 61^st minute, Le Thu Thanh Huong made a fine finish from the far post.

And five minutes later, Vietnam stretched their lead even further with a cross from Thanh Huong that was slammed into goal by Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung.

Vietnam then fell into a certain slumber after scoring their fourth goal and as the clock trickled down, the Philippines would grabbed their second goal of the afternoon when Cooke one-timed a cross from Natasha Alquiros from the right.

Regardless of the results, the game was marked by the debut of Australian referee Kate Jacewicz and assistant referee Tanya De Bore in an AFF organised competition for women’s football.

 

AFF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

(All matches at Thong Nhat Stadium)

GROUP A: Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines

GROUP B: Thailand, Laos, Malaysia