MALAYSIA IN SEMI-FINALS; MYANMAR PICK UP FIRST WIN

In the second match of the day, Myanmar completed their Group A fixtures with a 6-2 beating of the Philippines.

Both teams are already out of contention for a place in the semi-finals.

The Malaysian side, who had earlier beaten Laos 4-2 in their first game and then Brunei 7-1 in their second match yesterday, were a lot more cautious at the start in their game against Vietnam.

And while this allowed Vietnam more space, the failure for them to take the lead despite of the chances gave Malaysia the impetus to move forward.

The Malaysians staged a quick counter-attack in the seventh minute for Mohd Fadhil Yusoff to score before adding the second goal in the 14th minute off Mohd Fadhil Karnim to take a 2-0 lead at the half.

Five minutes after the restart, Vietnam pulled a goal back from Nguyen Quang Minh and then gave themselves a ray of hope to win the game when Truong Quoc Tuan nailed the equalizer in the 35th minute.

But Malaysia regrouped for captain Addie Azwan Zainal to head in the winner a minute to the end.

“It does not matter who we play in the semi-finals – just as long as we make the last four,” added Hamidin Amin, the team manager for Malaysia.

In the meantime, Myanmar were clearly the better side on the day when they beat Philippines 6-2 after taking a 2-0 lead at the break off goals from Aung Kyaw Oo (12th minute) and Soe Min Oo (15th).

And although Philippines managed to find the equalizer with goals from Ali Bernard Go (22nd minute) and Misagh Bahadoran (23rd), still there was no stopping Myanmar when they add to their tally off Maung Maung Myint (25th and 32nd), Aung Moe (30th) and Min Oo (32nd).

AFF FUTSAL LEAGUE 2008 RESULTS and FIXTURES

27 AUGUST
MALAYSIA 4 LAOS 2
INDONESIA 4 MYANMAR 2
VIETNAM 5 BRUNEI 4
THAILAND 5 PHILIPPINES 4

28 AUGUST
LAOS 5 VIETNAM 2
PHILIPPINES 0 INDONESIA 7
BRUNEI 1 MALAYSIA 7
MYANMAR 2 THAILAND 7

29 AUGUST
VIETNAM 2 MALAYSIA 3
MYANMAR 6 PHILIPPINES 2
Thailand vs Indonesia
Brunei vs Laos

30 AUGUST
Champion A vs Runner-up B (1400hrs)
MALAYSIA vs Runner-up A (1600hrs)

31 AUGUST
Loser SF 1 vs Loser SF 2 (1400hrs)
Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (1600hrs)