LAOS UP AGAINST INDONESIA FOR SECOND SPOT

Laos made sure of a fighting chance to be one of two teams into the final round of the competition when they came back from behind to beat Vietnam 2-1 in the pivotal game of the qualifiers.

Vietnam took the lead as early as the ninth minute off Van Nhoan Hoang before Laos staged a fight back in the second half.

Phettikone Pangnasith grabbed the equaliser in the 66th minute before Kita Souksabai stabbed home the winner four minutes to the end.

“We were a lot luckier today when compared to how we were in previous matches,” said Laos head coach Soulinthine Seumlamvanh, whose team will play against Cambodia and Hong Kong in their final two matches.

Indonesia, currently second at the table, still have matches against Vietnam and Cambodia.

Laos are on three points while Indonesia are on six points.

In the meantime, Japan made sure of their place at the top of the standings when they blasted Hong Kong 7-0 to make a perfect record of collecting 12 points from four matches.

Japan’s goals were scored by Yoshiaki Takagi (16th and 40th minute), Seiya Mochizuki (19th), Takuto Haraguchi (39th), Shoma Doi (60th and 70th minute) and Yuta Ito (88th).

FIXTURES AND RESULTS

Oct 24: JAPAN 2 LAOS 0/ VIETNAM 1 CAMBODIA 1

Oct 26: HONG KONG 0 INDONESIA 1/ CAMBODIA 0 JAPAN 7

Oct 28: VIETNAM 0 HONG KONG 0/ INDONESIA 1 LAOS 0

Oct 30: CAMBODIA 1 HONG KONG 1/ JAPAN 2 INDONESIA 1

Nov 1: LAOS 2 VIETNAM 1/ HONG KONG 0 JAPAN 7

Nov 3: Indonesia vs Vietnam, Laos vs Cambodia

Nov 5: Japan vs Vietnam, Laos vs Hong Kong, Cambodia vs Indonesia

GROUP F STANDINGS

1. JAPAN 12pts

2. INDONESIA 6pts

3. LAOS 3pt

4. VIETNAM 2pts

5. CAMBODIA 2pts

6. HONG KONG 2pts