Thailand made the semi-finals of the AFF BIDC Under-16 Championship following their confident 2-0 win over Vietnam on the fourth match day of Group A that was held this afternoon at the National Olympic Stadium.
With the concurrent match between Laos and Brunei over at the Army Stadium postponed to tomorrow morning due to yet another heavy weather, the Thais played a patient game before getting the better of their opponents in the second half.
Rain it did at the National Olympic Stadium but the pitch held up until the 35th minute of play before the decision was made by Philippines referee Clifford Daypuyat to stop the game.
Upon resumption, both teams played the remainder of the first half before Thailand upped the tempo after the break.
And just four minutes in, a cross from Kongkidagan Kinthong from the left was inadvertently slotted into goal by Vietnam defender Ngo Kim Long.
In the 79th minute, Kongkhidan came close with a firing shot from 20metres out but was blocked by Vietnam goalkeeper Vu Duc Minh.
But with five minutes remaining of the game, Santipap Yaemsaen headed in the ball off a cross from Sumana Sallaphet to give Thailand their third win in the group and dumped Vietnam out of contention.
In the meantime, Timor Leste sprang a surprise on Malaysia when they handed the latter with a 3-1 beating in the second game of the evening.
The Malaysians who had been unimpressive all throughout their first game in the group continued to struggle against Timor who used their speedy wingers to full effect.
With seconds remaining of the first half, Joao Pedro Da Silva Frtas punished some lackadaisical Malaysian defending to come from the left to blast the ball past keeper Muhammad Faiq Syahmi Saiful Bahari.
Danilson Conceicao Araujo then doubled the advantage for Timor Leste with another run down the right flank to beat Muhammad Faiq for the second time on the night.
And while Malaysia did pull a goal back in the 80th minute through Muhammad Alif Safwan, the Timorese made sure of their first win in the group when Danilson stabbed the ball home in a defensive confusion inside the box.
AFF BIDC U16 CHAMPIONSHIP
RESULTS
Vietnam 0 Thailand 2
Timor Leste 3 Malaysia 1
FIXTURES
3 August 2015 – All Matches at National Olympic Stadium
1000 – Brunei DS vs Laos
1530 – Australia vs Myanmar
1830 – Cambodia vs Singapore
GROUP A Current Standings
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Thailand | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 |
| 2 | Laos | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 7 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| 4 | Vietnam | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 |
| 5 | Timor Leste | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 4 |
| 6 | Brunei | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 1 |
GROUP B Current Standings
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 6 |
| 2 | Myanmar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 |
| 3 | Singapore | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | +5 | 3 |
| 4 | Cambodia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 3 |
| 5 | Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 0 |
