Sea Games: Vietnam beats Myanmar to top group in football

Vietnam became the first team to book a football semifinal spot at the Sea Games in the Philippines when its men”s team edged Myanmar Thursday to record its third straight win. 

With nine points, its place at the top of group B is unassailable whatever happens in the remaining games and it will meet the second-placed team in group A in the semis.

In the match against Myanmar at Bacolod, Vietnam scored the only goal of the match in the 65^th minute from a corner kick from the left. Van Bien, who had come on for Quoc Anh in midfield just a minute earlier, received the ball and crossed into the box. Captain Tai Em rose high and headed it home.

To survive in the tournament Myanmar needed a win and the goal spurred it to a desperate attempt to find the net.

However, Vietnam played calmly and dominated possession to control the game. It used a flurry of long passes to push the opponents back and for Myanmar there was to be no comeback.

Lack of penetration

For the first 65 minutes the match was confined to the midfield and there were hardly any attempts on goal at either end.

Both teams, however, wasted three good chances to score and managed to keep up a frenetic pace throughout the 90 minutes.

The Vietnamese sports authorities had promised Wednesday a prize of over VND250 million (US$15,800) for the team if it beat Myanmar.

(ThanhnienOnline)