THAILAND TAKE ON MALAYSIA; VIETNAM FACE AUSTRALIA IN U19 SEMIS

With Vietnam already through to the last four, the hosts then completed their fixtures in Group B today with a 3-1 win over Timor Leste off goals from Le Quoc Phuong (26th and 80th minute) and Tran Tuan An in the 92nd minute.

Timor Leste’s only goal in the game came off Jose Carlos Fonseca in the 36th minute in the match that was played at the Thong Nhat Stadium.

Despite starting without two key players who had red cards in the first game, Timor were threatening and had their first shot at goal in the second minute.

Anggisu Barbosa’s well struck free kick came off the crossbar.

In the 8th minute, Nicolau Fernandes set up the nippy Joao Paulo Da Silva whose shot was just off the mark.

Vietnam broke through several times but were unable to get their shots in.

In the 26th minute, Vietnam were awarded a free kick on the right of the box. Le Quoc Phuong coolly curled the ball into the far left corner.

Jose Carlos Fonseca, in the 30th minute, split the defence with some fancy footwork but his stiff shot went just over the bar.

His efforts even earned the applause from the Vietnam fans. Then in the 36th minute, Jose Carlos tapped in a cross from Efren Geronimo to level the score.

Vietnam struggled to score for two reasons – Timor’s strong defence and their numerous attacks.

The hosts finally moved ahead when they received a free kick at the top of the box. Le Quoc Phuong once again stepped up and let loose a powerful shot that took a slight deflection and sailed into goal.

Timor Leste continued to press on in search of the equaliser however they ended up falling further behind when Vietnam stunned them with a quick counter strike.

Ha Minh Tuan broke away and sped towards goal, side-stepped the last man and passed the ball to his unmarked team-mate who easily slipped it in.

Timor Leste coach Joai Paulo said his team came with no specific targets for this tournament.

“We are here to learn from the other teams and today we learnt a lot from Vietnam. They are a very strong side and I believe they are good bets for the gold. We are new country and are currently doing our best to develop the game. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be able to match the other Asean countries.”

Vietnam coach Vo Hoang Buu said: “We rested several first choice players in today’s game. But it was obvious the gap between our substitues and the first choice players is quite big and that’s a worry for our team.”

Taking on Vietnam in the semi-finals is Australia who beat Cambodia 3-0 in their final Group A match at the Thanh Long Stadium to make the next round.

Needing to win by a comfortable margin, the Aussies struggled with the afternoon heat somewhat before settling down to take a 2-0 lead at the break with goals from James Virgili’s header in the 41st minute and Kilment Taseski’s close range effort a minute later.

Taseski then completed Australia’s grand afternoon with his second and the team’s third goal in the 51st minute.

In the meantime, Thailand snuffed out Singapore’s hope of a place in the next round with a slim 1-0 win at the Thong Nhat Stadium.

The only goal in the game came off Adisak Krisorn in the 77th minute.

It was an equally matched game with both sides having their share of possession.

But while the Singapore defence held fast to push the Thais back, one costly mistake at the back led to the goal.

In the 77th minute, Singapore defence lost the ball and Adisak picked it up before slipping it past defender Azfar Zainal Abidin and tipped the
ball over the onrushing keeper Md Neezam Abdul Aziz.

With the win, the Thais will take on Malaysia, who edged out Myanmar 2-0 in their final Group B match at the Thanh Long Stadium.

In the match which either team has to win outright to make the semi-finals, the Malaysians scored two quick early goals from Saiful Ridzuwan Selamat in the eighth minute and Wan Zack Wan Nor in the 14th minute to claim their spot.

After long periods of physical exchange between the two sides, Myanmar then lost striker Kyi Lin in the 72nd minute for picking up his second yellow card offence for which Thai referee Apisit Aonrak did not hesitate to give him his marching orders.

FIXTURES and RESULTS

4 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
AUSTRALIA 1 SINGAPORE 1/ MYANMAR 3 TIMOR LESTE 0

Thong Nhat Stadium –
CAMBODIA 0 THAILAND 3/ MALAYSIA 0 VIETNAM 2

6 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
TIMOR LESTE 1 MALAYSIA 7/ SINGAPORE 3 CAMBODIA 1

Thong Nhat Stadium –
THAILAND 1 AUSTRALIA 1/ VIETNAM 3 MYANMAR 1

8 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
CAMBODIA 0 AUSTRALIA 3 / MALAYSIA 2 MYANMAR 0

Thong Nhat Stadium –
THAILAND 1 SINGAPORE 0/ VIETNAM 3 TIMOR LESTE 1

10 August 2009
Thong Nhat Stadium –
Semi-finals 1 – Thailand vs Malaysia (1515)
Semi-finals 2 – Vietnam vs Australia (1745)

12 August 2009
Thong Nhat Stadium –
3rd / 4th Placing – Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 (1530)

Final – Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (1745)