As expected, Vietnam won Group A of the AFF Suzuki Cup following their 3-0 win over Cambodia while Malaysia edged Myanmar by the same scoreline to come in as runners-up in the group.
Both Vietnam and Malaysia will now wait for the results from Group B tomorrow to know who their opponents will be in the crossover semifinals in a few days.
“We have achieved our primary target which was to win the group and qualify to the semifinals,” said an emotional Vietnam head coach Park Hang-seo afterwards.
“We will have around seven days to prepare for the next match.”
What made the win more fabulous in front of the more than 14,000 fans at the Hang Day Stadium was the fact that the old venue will most likely be torn down to make way for a new stadium.
Emotions aside, Vietnam were out to prove that they can not only play good football but also win more of the possession following the few criticisms they faced in the last two matches.
And while Hang-seo chose to put star players Nguyen Cong Phuong and also Nguyen Van Quyet at the bench at the start, Vietnam still packed too much power and pace as they controlled the game from the onset.
The midfield duo of Nguyen Quang Hai and also Nguyen Phong Hong Duy were pulling the strings from midfield and while the early chances could have found a better last touch, the floodgates finally opened in the 39th minute.
Nguyen Trong Hoang ran down the right for a pin point cross that was headed into goal by the waiting Nguyen Tien Linh.
And just two minutes later, Vietnam doubled the advantage with Hong Duy playing a short cross that was finished by Nguyen Quang Hai from close.
Cambodia were not overly defensive where although they defended in numbers, they still tried to push forward although they would find coming up against captain Que Ngoc Hai testing.
Vietnam were not pressing too hard into the second half where although they were winning more of the possessions, they found Cambodia were determined in defending their fort.
The change for Van Quyet and Cong Phuong gave some options in the attack but Cambodia held fast to make sure that the score remained.
However just a minute after the hour mark, Vietnam finally prised open their third goal of the game with crisp shot from Phan Van Duc from the edge of the Cambodian box.
“We tried to find a way to neutralize the home team but Vietnam were a great team and it was hard for the players,’ added Cambodian head coach Felix Dalmas.
“But I am still proud of the players where they showed a lot of courage.”
