Indonesia and Malaysia won their respective Group A and E of the men’s football event at the Asian Games as Laos and Myanmar bowed out of the competition following the final round of group matches today.
Laos completed their fixtures with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei off goals from Chansamone Phommalivong (5th minute) and Tiny Bounmalay (74th) but that failed to prevent them from finishing fourth in Group A.
Myanmar also failed to make the cut after their 2-0 loss to Iran saw them finishing at the bottom of Group F – behind Iran, DPR Korea and Saudi Arabia.
In the meantime, Indonesia announced their arrival into the round of the 16, with a comeback 3-1 win over Hong Kong.
Lao Hok Ming had given Hong Kong the lead on 39 minute as the hosts then rebounded off goals from Irfan Jaya (46th), Stefano Lilipaly (85th) and Hanif Sjahbandi (90th).
The win allowed Indonesia to take the top spot in Group A with nine points ahead of second-placed Palestine with eight points.
On the other hand, Malaysia still managed to win Group E despite losing 3-2 to Bahrain in their of the group.
The Malaysians had taken the lead through Muhammad Syami Safari in the 20th minute before Bahrain came back with three goals off Mohamed Hardan (33rd and 89th) and Hamad Alshamsan (37th).
A penalty from Mohamad Safawi Rasid at the end gave the final scoreline.
The loss did not affect Malaysia’s position at the top of Group E following the head to head result against second placed South Korea.
The Round of 16 will be played on 24 and 25 August.
