Futsal

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam lost 1-5 to Malaysia in the semi-final match of the AFF HDBank Futsal Championship in HCM City yesterday.

Việt Nam earned a ticket to compete in the semi-final after ranking first in Group A, while Malaysia placed second in Group B.

However, Việt Nam struggled in the game yesterday, allowing the visiting side to dominate the match from early on. Within only five minutes, from the 10th to the 15th, Malaysia scored four goals in quick succession.

After the break, the hosts used more aggressive tactics in search of goals, but were stopped by the posts and outstanding performance of the Malaysian goalie.

After that, two Vietnamese players received red cards and were forced to leave the game, practically destroying Việt Nam’s chance to get back into the match.

Taking full advantage of the difference in numbers, the visitors scored one more goal in the 35th minute. Following significant effort, Việt Nam finally found a goal one minute later.

Earlier, defending champions Thailand beat Myanmar 8-3 in the other semi-final match.

Myanmar had the first chances to open the score after the referee blew his whistle but failed. Then Thailand controlled the game and managed two goals in the 13th and 17th minutes.

In the second half, Myanmar narrowed the gap to 1-2 and were able to score two more goals. However, in the final minutes of the match, Thailand fought back strongly with six goals to end the game 8-3 in their favour.

Thailand have captured the regional futsal crown a record 12 times out of 13 competitions.

“There were some comments before the start of the competition when we came here with a young team. So making the final was very important for us,” said Jose Mendez, the head coach of Thailand.

“In spite of the scoreline, it was a very difficult game against a team which has improved their defence over the past year. The first goal was important and in the second half we took more control to win the game.”

Việt Nam will face Myanmar in the bronze-medal match, while Thailand will meet Malaysia in the final tomorrow.

In the event’s qualifying round, Việt Nam beat Myanmar 3-0. — VNS