FOURTH FINAL IN A ROW FOR VIETNAM

In front of a vociferous crowd of well over 10,000 screaming fans, Vietnam pressed the Singapore defence from the very first whistle as they look for a reason to give the spectators something to cheer.

But it was to be Singapore who came closest in the first quarter when Khairul Nizam latched on to a cross from Hariss Harun but the former just could not put the ball into the net despite having only Vietnam keeper Bai Tan Truong to beat.

Vietnam pushed forward through the hardwork of Hoang Dinh Tung but the Singapore backline held their nerves to fend off the onslaught from their opponents.

In the 27th minute, Singapore grabbed the lead when Khairul slammed home from close range off a rebound attempt from Fazli Ayob.

Two minutes later, they got a real chance of doubling their lead but the free kick from Hariss went wide.

That failure to score allowed Vietnam to wrest control and in the 32nd minute, they scored the equaliser off a well-taken Pham Tanh Binh header from a Phan Thanh Hung’s free kick on the left.

And with just three minutes of the first-half, Vietnam took the lead for the first time in the game when Thanh Hung delivered another sublime cross from the right for Mai Tien Thanh to score.

Singapore went into the second-half determined to overturn the deficit but they just could not make it count with the set-pieces.

Substitute Chu Ngoc Anh then gave Vietnam a two-goal advantage when he scored the third goal of the game in the 69th minute.

Vietnam then completed the humiliation for Singapore with their fourth and final goal of the evening with a Nguyen Ngoc Anh’s grounder deep in injury time.

This year will perhaps be the best year for Vietnam to win their first ever gold medal at the SEA Games after three failed attempts considering that defending champions Thailand are already out of contention following their defeat to Malaysia earlier.

GROUPINGS

Group A: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Cambodia

Group B: Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia

RESULTS AND FIXTURES

2 Dec (Main Stadium): MALAYSIA 11 TIMOR LESTE 0/ THAILAND 1 VIETNAM 1

4 Dec (Chao Anu Vong Stadium): THAILAND 4 CAMBODIA 0/ VIETNAM 4 TIMOR LESTE 0

5 Dec (Main Stadium): SINGAPORE 2 INDONESIA 2/ LAOS 1 MYANMAR 1

6 Dec (Main Stadium): VIETNAM 3 MALAYSIA 1/ TIMOR LESTE CAMBODIA

7 Dec (Chao Anu Vong Stadium): MYANMAR 1 SINGAPORE 2/ INDONESIA 0 LAOS 2

8 Dec (Chao Anu Vong Stadium): TIMOR LESTE 0 THAILAND 9/ CAMBODIA 0 MALAYSIA 4

10 Dec (Main Stadium): MYANMAR 3 INDONESIA 1/ LAOS 0 SINGAPORE 0

11 Dec (Chao Anu Vong Stadium): CAMBODIA 1 VIETNAM 6/ MALAYSIA 2 THAILAND 1

SEMI-FINALS
14 Dec: VIETNAM 4 SINGAPORE 1 (Chao Anuvong Stadium)/ LAOS 1 MALAYSIA 3 (Main Stadium)

THIRD/ FOURTH PLACING (1500hrs at Chao Anu Vong Stadium)
17 Dec: Singapore vs. Laos

FINAL (1700hrs at Main Stadium)
17 Dec: Vietnam vs. Malaysia

FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A

1. VIETNAM 10pts (+11)

2. MALAYSIA 9pts ( +14)

3. THAILAND 7pts (+12)

4. CAMBODIA 3pts (-10)

5. TIMOR LESTE 0pt (-27)

GROUP B

1. LAOS 5pts (+2)

2. SINGAPORE 5pts (+1)

3. MYANMAR 4pt (+1)

4. INDONESIA 1pt (-4)