It was a day of win or bust for Malaysia and of goodbye to Laos. In the end though they were not able to come up with the goods and it will now be the usual suspects + Myanmar at the semi-finals of the football at the 2023 SEA Games.
Malaysia 1 Vietnam 2
This heavyweight clash didn’t disappoint and was easily one the best games of the competition so far for quality and played at such a pace you couldn’t look away.
Seven minutes on the clock and Vietnam struck. Nguyen was bought down under a hefty challenge but managed to pick himself up and convert the penalty. The forward has been a delight this tournament and at such young age could go have any future he wants. On 30 minutes he had his second and the Malaysians were heading out of the competition. Their frustration showing clearly as fights started to break out and bad tackles all over the field. Yuslan scored just in half time to give the second half some extra spice.
The second half was nothing short of a brawl with Malaysia pushing hard but not able to find that needed second goal. Tensions boiled over as 2 Malay players saw red late on.
Laos 1 Thailand 4
It wasn’t a match that peeked too much interest, the most intriguing part was how would Laos keep it under 5. They started on the worse possible way giving away 2 goals in the opening 6 minutes. The Thais hit cruise control and even made it 3 just before half time.
The second half was a much more even affair with the Thais making lots of changes and the Laos boys giving everything they had for the last 45 minutes is their tournament.
It was 4-0 on 55 minutes and a late consolation goal for Laos was a small reward for what was a poor tournament.
What’s Next?
Laos are heading home, Malaysia will play Singapore in the battle for 3rd place and then the dress rehearsal of the final with Thailand playing Vietnam for the battle for top spot. Finishing second will mean a semi final vs Indonesia.
This article is adapted from BPVE, (https://bpve.com/) reported and edited from the great team – Cambodia Sports Review. (https://www.cambodiasportsreview.com/)
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