PRESSURE ON VIETNAM TO DELIVER

Following their drab 1-1 draw against Cambodia in the opening game of the qualifiers three days earlier, Vietnam were in no better shape yesterday when they could only eke out a scoreless draw against Hong Kong.

With games against Laos (on Nov 1), hosts Indonesia (on Nov 3) and then favourites Japan (on Nov 3), the odds are against Vietnam to win the points to finish among the top two in Group F.

In the meantime, hosts Indonesia picked up their second full points of the qualifiers when they beat Laos with a slim 1-0 win.

The victory has in some sense given due satisfaction to Indonesia after they fell 3-0 to the same side at the AFF U-17 Championship barely a month ago.

Captain Reva Money was the hero for Indonesia when he slammed home a rebounder in the 76th minute following striker Alan Martha’s earlier shot which was blocked by Laos’ keeper Soulasay Keosouvanpandaeng.

CURRENT FINALISTS (as at Oct 29)

Australia, Bahrain, China, DPR Korea, Iran, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Korea Republic

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 vs Hong Kong, Japan vs Indonesia

Nov 1: Laos vs Vietnam, Hong Kong vs Japan

Nov 3: Indonesia vs Vietnam, Laos vs Cambodia

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

GROUP F STANDINGS (after two matches)

1. JAPAN 6pts

2. INDONESIA 6pts

3. VIETNAM 2pts

4. HONG KONG 1pt

5. CAMBODIA 1pt

6. LAOS 0pt

PIC: The Indonesian players celebrating their goal against Laos