AUSSIES ARE CHAMPS AFTER VIETNAM CONCEDE OWN GOAL

But in the end, it took an own goal in the 79th minute to decide the winner of this year’s AFF Women’s Championship.

In their haste to scramble the ball out of harm’s way, a Vietnam player inadvertently turned the ball into her own net.

There were so many bodies that no one could be sure who the unfortunate player was until the officials confirmed later that it was striker Do Thi Ngoc Cham.

Still, it was a goal and Australia were crowned the champions in their very first appearance in this regional tournament.

For the record, the last two tournaments were won by Vietnam in 2006 and Myanmar in 2007.

In today’s final, Vietnam showed no signs of being nervous and took the fight to their physically larger opponents.

The fast and nippy Vietnamese players made life tough for the Aussies and pleasantly surprised their fans by coming agonisingly close in the 24th minute.

Left flanker Tran Thi Kim Hong, the smallest player on the pitch, broke through and smashed a shot towards the top corner but it was pushed out by Lydia Williams.

That was just the start as both sides tried desperately to get their shots in. The Vietnam keeper in particular did an excellent job keeping her goal intact, until the 79th minute.

Australia, without two suspended players – striker Amy Chapman and defender Clare Polkinghorne – were also without injured Elise Ellond-Knight and started with 15 players on the bench.

“It made things harder without two of our most experienced players. But credit to Vietnam as they made it very tough for us … the keeper was simply brilliant,” said Alistair Edwards, the Australian coach.

“We are thrilled to have won here; it was an amazing experience for us playing teams with different styles.”

Meanwhile, in the 3rd-4th playoff, Thailand, who were knocked out by Vietnam in the semifinals, defeated Myanmar 3-0 today.

Maijarern Anootsara scored twice in the first half, in the 26th and 42nd minutes while Romyen Nisa sealed the bronze four minutes from the end.

TODAY’S RESULTS

FINAL: Vietnam 0 Australia 1

3rd-4th playoff: Thailand 3 Myanmar 0

Fairplay Trophy: Vietnam

PREVIOUS RESULTS

Group A
Oct 8: Myanmar 1 Vietnam 3, Indonesia 0 Laos 1
Oct 10: Vietnam 4 Indonesia 0, Malaysia 0 Myanmar 7
Oct 12: Myanmar 7 Laos 0, Malaysia 0 Vietnam 11
Oct 14: Laos 3 Malaysia 1, Indonesia 0 Myanmar 6
Oct 16: Malaysia 0 Indonesia 3, Laos 0 Vietnam 6

Group B
Oct 9: Australia 2 Thailand 0, Philippines 3 Singapore 1
Oct 11: Singapore 0 Thailand 6, Australia 7 Philippines 0
Oct 13: Thailand 12 Philippines 0, Singapore 0 Australia 6

SEMIFINALS
Oct 18: Vietnam 2 Thailand 1, Australia 5 Myanmar 1