SINGAPORE (13 June 2015) – Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura said that his team should have wrapped the game up in spite of the penalty they conceded which led to the team’s 2-1 loss to Myanmar in the semi-finals of the SEA Games this afternoon at the National Stadium.
He said that his team has enough quality to win the match outright but the failure of his players to convert the chances they created cost the team in the end.
“We created chances after chances but we just could not score. That is the failure of our strikers. But this is a problem not only for Vietnam but also for the other teams in ASEAN,” added Miura.
“I have no problem with the penalty which we conceded, because we showed that we have the quality to create a lot of chances. But when we don’t convert them then it is a problem.
“In this instance, I have to apologize to the fans for the loss today.”
In spite of their loss to Thailand in their final group match a few days earlier, Vietnam were the overwhelming favourites to beat Myanmar and book their place in the final for the second time since 2009.
But a penalty just before the break put Vietnam in a precarious position even though they did found the equalizer in the second half. That was until Myanmar captain Nay Lin Tun fired the winner right at the end.
“Myanmar played a fast game at the start. But when they scored the goal, they fall back and that made things hard for us,” explained Miura.
“We had to come out and try to break their defence. We created between three to five chances which we should have taken. But that is football.”
