AFF Suzuki Cup 2014: Vietnam 2 Indonesia 2

Substitute Le Cong Vinh, who scored the goal which ultimately won Vietnam their sole AFF Suzuki Cup title in 2008, looked to have claimed all three points for the hosts after reclaiming the lead for Vietnam just after the hour mark.

But after Indonesia’s Zulham Malik Zamrun had cancelled out Que Ngoc Hai’s early opener before half-time, Nguyen Manh failed to hold Samsul’s low drive just eight minutes after the striker had been introduced by coach Alfred Riedl to earn his side a share of the spoils.

“We got a lucky draw. There is no surprise when I say this, but sometimes you have to fight until the last second and sometimes you get rewarded. Vietnam were clearly the better team with clear better chances and we could see that our preparation was simply not good enough,” said former Vietnam coach Riedl.

“I am proud of my players. They tried until the last second using everything in their body and got rewarded with a lucky goal.”

Roared on by a near capacity crowd in Hanoi, hosts Vietnam started on the front foot and came close to a breakthrough after just nine minutes as Indonesia goalkeeper Kurnia Meiga Hermansyah needed two hands to superbly beat away a rising strike from Nguyen Hai Anh.

But Kurnia was beaten less than two minutes later as Sergio Van Dijk’s poor headed clearance from a deep left-wing corner by Pham Thanh Luong only found Ngoc Hai inside the penalty area and the full-back sent his strike over the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

Indonesia, though, equalised against the run of play 12 minutes before half-time as centre-back Dinh Tien Thanh failed to deal with a high ball on the edge of the penalty area and Zulham took full advantage by rifling a low shot across goalkeeper Nguyen Manh and into the bottom corner.

Vietnam, though, came close to regaining their lead twice in quick succession five minutes into the second half as Nguyen Hai Anh was first denied by Kurnia before guiding his follow up onto the outside of the post from inside the penalty area.

But the home side did not have to wait long to reclaim their advantage as Cong Vinh, having been introduced in place of Hai Anh five minutes before the hour mark, received a pass from Nguyen Van Quyet on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the top corner past Kurnia’s despairing dive with 22 minutes remaining.

Indonesia, though, pulled level again with six minutes remaining as Vietnam goalkeeper Nguyen Manha allowed Samsul’s low drive from inside the area to slip through his grasp before the ball agonisingly rolled between his legs and crept across the line.

“I appreciate the Vietnam supporters as many supporters came and made a very good atmosphere. The players were very aggressive today so I am very satisfied, but I am not satisfied with this result,” said Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura.

“I am not satisfied because today’s result is not right. I think we had many good chances to score and many good things created in the game and we were much more aggressive than our opponent.”