OZ EDGE KOREANS; STALEMATE FOR VIETNAM AND THAILAND

Dimitrios Petratos was the toast for Australia with the only goal in the game 23rd minute as the Thais began their title defence by scoring first in the 49th minute through Natthawut Khamrin before Vietnam equalised off Nguyen Van Thanh in the 76th minute.

For Australia, it was a dream start following their win over the South Koreans although they should have dictated more control in the second half.

“We had a good first half where we scored the goal but I felt that we could have done better after the break to finish things off,” said Australian coach Johannes Versleijen after the match.

But it was the South Koreans who were the early aggressor with Kim Young Uk and Choi Sung Guen pulling the string from the midfield.

Their failure to convert a free kick on 15th minute when Oz keeper Mark Romano Birighitti parried it over gave Australia the chance to push forward.

In what was only their second attempt at goal following Matthew Leckie’s try just a minute earlier saw Petratos shooting in from an acute angle which beat South Korean custodian No Dong Geon before coming off the upright and into goal.

In the 29th minute of play, South Korea came closest to scoring in the first half but off a one-on-one situation, Lee Jong Ho shot into Birighitti instead.

The break did not produce much in terms of goals although the persistent drizzle made the ground more slippery as players from both sides struggle to stay on their feet.

As Australia seem to be content with the one-goal lead, it was South Korea who took much of the initiative but despite several close chances, Hyun Soo and co. just could not make any of them count.

In the meantime, with the rain continuing much into the second match of the day, the quality of football being played continued to get a battering.

And considering the importance of the game for both teams, it came as no surprise that a hatful of yellow cards were flashed by referee Midi Setiyano in the first half of the game alone.

Chances were far and in between as both teams struggled to get a footing at the centre of the park although Thailand eventually carved their first goal of the game just four minutes after the restart when Natthawut made good on a corner from Ponlachai Hongthong to flick the ball into the Vietnam net.

Vietnam stepped up their game soon afterwards and pressed the Thais hard but it was not until the 76th minute that the game finally brought cheer to the home team following the introduction of substitute Van Thanh.

Coming in place of the injured Nguyen Dinh Bao, the lanky Van Thanh nodded home the equaliser following a corner which was taken by Le Thai Quang.

“We deserve to get the draw. We played hard in the second half and in the last ten minutes we should have scored the second goal with the chances that we had,” said Vietnam coach Trieu Quang Ha.

RESULTS and FIXTURES

24 July: AUSTRALIA 1 SOUTH KOREA 0/ VIETNAM 1 THAILAND 1

26 July: Thailand vs. Australia (1600hrs)/ South Korea vs. Vietnam (1830hrs)

28 July: South Korea vs. Thailand (1600hrs)/ Vietnam vs. Australia (1830hrs)

30 July: 3rd position vs. 4th position (1600hrs)/ winner vs. runner-up (1830hrs)