Viet Nam ease into futsal semi-finals

Captain Nguyen Bao Quan of Viet Nam (left) prepares to make a shot to the Philippines’ net at the AFF Futsal Championship match yesterday. Viet Nam won 19-1 to enter the semi-finals.

It was the largest scoring by a team in the tournament this year.

In another match in Group B, Australia raced away with a 15-2 over Laos.

The result not only brought the two winners into the semi-finals, but also helped them to secure places in the Asian Futsal Championships in Uzbekistan next year.

This year’s AFF Futsal is a qualifying competition in which the four top teams will make the cut for the Asian event.

Viet Nam ran riot past the Philippines, to take over the lead with nine points. Pham Duc Hoa and captain Nguyen Bao Quan each scored a hat-trick for the Vietnamese team.

Le Quoc Nam, Vu Xuan Du, and Nguyen Minh Tri each pocketed a double.

Other goals came from Le Duong Anh Tung, Ngo Ngoc Son, Tran Van Vu, Phuong Trong Luan and Danh Phat.

The Philippines netted their own goal in the second half, while Lorenzo Hermosa was on target in the 25th minute.

After the win, Viet Nam jumped on top of the group with nine points, with as many points as Australia, but having better goal differences.

Viet Nam will square off with Australia today, runners-up in last year’s tournament, to decide the final group positions, which will, in turn, determine their opponents in the crossover semi-finals on Wednesday.

Both would like to win to avoid a premature meeting with title favourite Thailand.

In the Group A actions yesterday, Malaysia beat East Timor 7-2 while Thailand brushed aside Brunei 12-2.