Vietnam hammer Maldives in Beijing Olympics qualifier

Vietnam beat the Maldives 5-0 in their second match of the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ first qualifiers on Wednesday, keeping their hopes alive of going through to the next round.

Despite coach Tran Ngoc Thai Tuan’s decision not to field his strongest team, which lost 1-0 to Thailand in their opener on Monday, against unfancied opponents,” halfback Van Thi Thanh, the national Golden Ball winner in 2005, scored just 16 minutes into the game from the penalty spot following an accidental handball by a Maldives’ defender.

Three minutes later, striker Tuyet Mai tapped in a corner kick to score Vietnam’s second. Mai also scored Vietnam’s third goal after 14 minutes following a break into the penalty box by Dao Thi Mien, recently named the nation’s “Most Valuable Player,” who then nudged the ball to Mai who had no trouble finding the lower corner of the net.

The Maldives’ coach changed his tactics in the second half, asking his players to play defensively and the Maldives’ girls tried to cut their losses by slowing down the game and kicking the ball out of play.

However, their stalling tactics made little difference and the Vietnamese side scored a fourth goal 10 minutes into the second half. Defender Minh Nguyet dribbled the ball from the Vietnamese half into the Maldives’ box before firing the ball into the back of the net beyond the reach of the diving goalkeeper.

Vietnam’s fifth and final goal came from the boot of Tuyet Mai who took advantage of defensive chaos in the Maldives’ penalty area to score her third goal.

To go through to the next stage of the competition, Vietnam will have to beat Singapore when they meet today. Singapore lost 0-5 to Thailand in their previous match.

Vietnam, the No1 team in Southeast Asia for years, are expected to beat Singapore, who have yet to reach the final of a major football competition.

However, in the first round two days earlier, Vietnam lost to Thailand who have made great progress recently.

Although coach Thai Tuan fielded his strongest team, many of whom were in the recent gold medal winning Southeast Asian Games side, they failed to break through the Thai defence. Despite dominating the game, a moment’s carelessness by Vietnamese goal-keeper Kieu Trinh allowed Thailand to score.

“I take full responsibility for the team’s loss because Thailand have not even managed a draw against Vietnam since 2001. Monday’s loss was really a shock,” said coach Tuan.

“We played better than them and had chances but we did not manage to score a goal, while Thailand had an opportunity and they took it,” he said. “The failure was also partly due to the absence of striker Do Hong Tien, injured Nguyen Thi Huong and Nguyen Thi Muon. While some others failed to perform as well as expected.”

Tuan added: “In the past, Myanmar have been Vietnam’s biggest rivals but now Thailand are much stronger. I do not know if the Viet Nam Football Federation has any plans but I myself will make some changes. They need to improve their skill-levels and strength, and coaches will be changed if necessary.”

After two rounds, Thailand are leading the group with six points, Vietnam are second with three, followed by Singapore, also on three, and the Maldives in last place with no points.

If Vietnam go through to the second round they will meet Japan, who got a bye.

The first leg will be held in Vietnam on April 7 followed by a return match eight days later.

Vietnam are also expected to face chief rivals Thailand and Hong Kong in the second round.

However, the national team’s toughest test will begin on October 15 when they begin practising for the 24th SEA Games.

In November the national squad will leave for China where they will spend 10 days training and playing friendlies. Afterwards, they will head to Thailand who are hosting the Games’ football event from December 6-16.

VNS