malaysia kalah 2-1 kepada vietnam

BANGALORE: Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-1 to win the battle of South-East Asian teams in the AFC Youth Championship here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday.
An early own goal by Malaysia’s Baddrol Bakhtiar in the 11th minute left them chasing for the equaliser for the next 45 minutes before Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri restored parity in first half added time. Tinh Quang Nguyen fired the winner in the 63rd minute and Vietnam took early control of Group D with three points.
The match failed to rise anywhere near the heights of the earlier encounter, a thrilling Arab derby between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and was centred mostly in midfield as the ASEAN teams jostled for control.
Bakhtiar gave stand-in Malaysian goalkeeper Abdul Hadi Abdul Hamid a horror start after heading in an innocuous-looking cross from Vietnam’s Tinh Quang Nguyen.
Vietnam however failed to capitalise on this unexpected gift and allowed their rivals to slowly but surely gain the upper hand and come into the match.
Malaysia composed themselves and within 10 minutes had stitched together a few good moves which injected a measure of confidence into them though the game continued to be of middling quality.
Half a dozen corners were conceded by under-pressure Vietnam as Malaysia mounted a fightback but none of these could be converted into goals, pointing to the lack of quality finishing upfront.
K Rajagopal’s team eventually equalised and went out for the breather on level terms when Zambri got his head to a searing 40-yard cross-cum-shot from Safiq Rahim to beat Vietnam goalkeeper Binh Thanh Nguyen in first half injury time.
The restart saw listless moves dominating the proceedings again and it looked like both teams would be more than happy to keep a point. Zambri had a half-chance to cement Malaysia’s position in the 55th minute but his header missed the net by inches.
This miss proved to be costly as Vietnam scored at the other end eight minutes later. Tinh Quang Nguyen, the man whose cross led to the first goal, dispatched a shot across the goalmouth which took a touch of Abdulhadi as the custodian flung himself to his right in vain.
Vietnam were unlucky not to enhance the victory margin after a screaming grounder from Luong Pham Thanh missed the right upright by centimeters in the 70th minute and, 10 minutes later as the match entered the home stretch, Tinh Quang Nguyen conjured a moment of pure magic, weaving his way past three defenders before firing inches wide.
Malaysian coach Rajagopal resorted to a raft of substitutions in the dying minutes but it failed to pay dividends as wayward shooting pegged the team back. Rahim’s header in the last minute of injury time thudded against the crossbar and the snap-header by Farderin Kadir hit the top-netting, epitomising Malaysia's finishing woes.
“I am completely disappointed with the result,” said Malaysian coach Rajagopal. “I was confident of a good result before the game and we did get back into it in the last quarter.”
“The second goal we conceded was sloppy. We need a result against Saudi but after their draw today they will be gunning for all three points,” said Rajagopal, fearing a Saudi backlash.
Vietnam coach Long Le Tuan said he could not have asked for more. “We got what we wanted. Malaysia are tough opponents and know our game well. We were a little bit luck to win after Malaysia attacked in the last stage,” said Tuan, who said the win had brought a place in the knockout all the more closer. “I think we are now confident enough to aim at a quarterfinal match. The next match against Iraq will be important.”

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