VIETNAM ALMOST THROUGH; MYANMAR BLAST MALAYSIA

HO CHI MINH CITY (10 Oct 2008) – Hosts Vietnam picked up their second straight win to virtually secure their place in the semifinals of the AFF Women’s Championships at the Thanh Long Stadium here this evening.

Vietnam defeated Indonesia 4-0 to top Group A with six points.

The hosts, who have two more matches against Laosand Malaysia, could have scored more goals had it not been for the good work of Indonesian goalkeeper Dorthea Kristhina Rollo.

In the second Group A match tonight, Myanmarredeemed themselves with a convincing 7-0 win overMalaysia, who were playing their first match today.

My Nilar Htwe was the toast of the team when she secured the first hattrick of the tournament.

Myanmar went down 3-1 to Vietnam in their opening match two days ago and the victory today put them back on the semifinal trail.

In the first match of the day, the first five minutes was an indication of what was to be expected.

The Vietnamese strikers, led by Do Thi Ngoc Cham, began harassing the Indonesian defence right from the start.

And within the first few minutes, the home side already came close through shots from Ngoc Cham and Le Thi Oanh.

In the fifth minute, the inevitable happened and the few hundred fans gathered at the stadium were on their feet.

Defender Tu Thi Phu’s freekick was simply too much for Dorthea who failed to handle the ball and it rolled into goal.

Vietnam waited another half an hour before celebrating again. Vu Thi Huyen Linh sent a low cross which Ngoc Cham left for Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet to ram towards goal.

Dorthea managed to push it out but Minh Nguyet slammed in the rebound.

A few minutes from the break, Huyen Linh raced in and rifled in a

cross from right flanker Tran Thi Kom Hong.

Vietnam netted their last goal three minutes into the second half, this time through Bui Thi Tuyet Mai.

Indonesia, despite being four goals down, fought back and began to

make some headway in front of goal.

They however never managed to get past keeper Duong Thi Khanh.

For Indonesia, the result today was an improvement over their 8-0 loss to Vietnam a year ago.

“Indonesia have shown progress since the previous year, they have also improved since the opening match. They have good spirit and fought to the end. For us, the win is important but it will be normal

preparations, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and start

thinking of the possible semifinal showdown with Thailand,” said

Vietnam’s Chinese coach Chen Yun Fa.

He admitted there were still some problems that needed to be worked on and hope they will sort it out in due time.

“We tried some players in different roles but was not too happy with the subs.”

Indonesia’s German coach Timo Scheunemann congratulated the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) for building up a good team.

“We are not on the same level as Vietnam but I was very proud of my girls today, they did especially well in the second half. The first goal was a gift,” said the coach.

“They (VFF) have long terms plans for women’s football and that’s why they have such a good team now. Unfortunately, it’s not the same in the rest of Asia, more so in Indonesia.”

In the second match of the day, Myanmar were simply too good for the Malaysians.

Probably fired up by their opening loss, Myanmar knew they had to win today to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

And they did not take long to take charge.

Aye Nandar Hlaing, after picking up a corner kick from Yee Yee Oo,

managed to beat Malaysian keeper Ranie Paul at the near post with a deftly taken shot.

Aye was on target again in the 27th minute.

As she lined up her freekick, Aye spotted an opening at the far post and blasted her shot in.

Aye set up My Nilar Htwe for the third goal while San San Thein, in

the 42nd minute, sealed the score at 4-0 at the break.

Myanmar continued to plunder the Malaysian goal after the break and picked up three more before they called it a day.

Nilar Htwe scored twice in the second half (49th and 73rd) for the

first hattrick of the tournament while Moe Moe War completed her

team’s rout of Malaysia in the 75th minute.

RESULTS

Vietnam bt Indonesia 4-0

Myanmar bt Malaysia 7-0