Futsal

Việt Nam are the first Southeast Asian women's futsal champions after their victory on November 21 in Manila, the Philippines. Photo of ASEAN Football

MANILA – Việt Nam became the inaugural champions of the ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship 2024 after beating Thailand 2-1 in extra-time in a thrilling final on November 21 in Manila, the Philippines.

It was a sweet revenge for the Vietnamese after losing 0-3 to the Thais in the group stage on November 20 at the PhilSports Arena.

Both two sides opened strongly, with threatening attacks across the full 40 minutes of official time, but none of the plays were converted into goals, forcing the arch rivals to play nail-biting extra minutes.

Vietnamese player Biện Thu Hằng vies for a ball against a Thai player during the final of the ASEAN Women's Futsal Championship 2024. Photos of VFF

Just three minutes after the restart and Việt Nam went ahead in the 43rd minute through Nguyễn Phương Anh.

But Thailand managed to draw level when Lê Thi Thanh Ngân conceded an own goal in the 46th minute.

In a thrilling final play, Việt Nam took their lead back just seconds later as Phương Anh completed her double, bringing Việt Nam the championship crown.

Vietnamese players celebrate after the final whistle of the final match. Việt Nam beat Thailand 2-1 to win the regional futsal title.

Meantime, Indonesia took bronze after beating Myanmar 4-1.

The score at the end of the first half was 2-0, with goals from Fitriya Hilda in the second minute and Dinar Kartika in the seventh minute.

Fitri Rosdiana and Carmen Karath added two more goals after the break before Myanmar replied with their only goal of the game through Yun Me Me Lwin in the 35th minute.

Trịnh Nguyễn Thanh Hằng (left) is the Most Valuable Player while teammate Nguyễn Phương Anh hunted down the most goals in the tournament.

In addition to the tournament's title, the Vietnamese side also secured individual awards.

Phương Anh took the honour as the top scorer with five goals and captain Trịnh Nguyễn Thanh Hằng was voted the Most Valuable Player.

The Việt Nam Football Federation decided to give a bonus of VNĐ600 million (US$23,600) to the team for the win, bringing home the first title of football/futsal of the year. VNS