MANILA (5 Dec 2019) – Vietnam and Indonesia have made the cut for the semifinals of the men’s football event at the SEA Games 2019 from Group B following the fabulous finale to the preliminary round today.
Vietnam clawed back from two goals down to hold Thailand to a 2-2 draw while Indonesia, as expected, clobbered Laos 4-0. Singapore completed their fixtures with a 7-0 hiding of Brunei DS.
In the afternoon matches that were played concurrently at three different venues, Vietnam had to survive an early scare at the Binan Football Stadium when they found themselves behind as early as the fifth minute before they were able to finish the game equal 2-2..
A poor clearance by goalkeeper Dung Tien Bui came off Thai striker Supachai Chaided and into goal.
And six minutes later, Thailand doubled their advantage with youngster Suphahat Muenta’s second crack at goal from close range.
However, Vietnam did not lose shape where in spite of the absence of the inspirational Nguyen Quang Hai, they closed the gap on 15 minute with Nguyen Tien Linh making good on the cross down the left.
Tien Linh then made sure that Vietnam walked away with the one point when he made good on penalty in the 72nd minute.
The draw was good enough for Vietnam to win Group B on 13 points from five matches played as defending champions Thailand were dumped out of the SEA Games.
In the meantime, Indonesia were playing without any pressure as they know full well that they just needed to score a comfortable win over Laos to make the next round. And Indonesia delivered what was expected with a resounding 4-0 victory over Laos at the Imus Cavite..
And given the confidence level in the squad, it took them just five minutes for midfielder Saddil Ramdani to prise open the lead.
Hotshot striker Osvaldo Haay then pumped in two goals in the 47th and 90th minute as defender Adi Bagas then squeezed in a 73rd minute effort.
On the other Singapore whipped Brunei 7-0 at the Binan Football Stadium to finish their campaign in Group B on fourth.
Irfan Fandi started the ball rolling with the lead after just four minutes as brother Ikhsan Fandi then grabbed a hat trick off goals in the 68th, 90+2 and 90+3.
Saifullah Akbar was on target in the 72nd minute while Faris Ramli grabbed a double with goals in the 84th and 86th minute.
GROUP B FINAL STANDINGS
| No | Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | VIETNAM | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 13 |
| 2 | INDONESIA | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 2 | +15 | 12 |
| 3 | THAILAND | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 10 |
| 4 | SINGAPORE | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| 5 | LAOS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 4 |
| 6 | BRUNEI DS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 31 | −31 | 0 |
- Teams in bold qualify for semifinals
