Thursday, October 29, 2009

Losses thwart home team : Vietnam 2 - 8 Malaysia

HCM CITY — Viet Nam futsal’s desire to win a medal for the first time at a continental competition suffered a major setback when home teams were hammered by the Malaysians and the Thais.

Viet Nam men’s team lost 8-2 to Malaysia in the opener at the men’s futsal event at the third Asian Indoor Games, yesterday in HCM City.

Viet Nam, the runners-up at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship four months ago, started off well with an opener only two minutes into the first half, after Malaysian goalkeeper Mohd Hafis Awang allowed Quan to control the ball and tap it in.

However, Malaysia stayed calm and brought the heat. The home team’s hastiness in widening the score exposed many lethal openings in their defence to Malaysia, who opted to defend in Only three minutes later, Muizzudin Mohd Haris converted a cross from Mohd Ruzaley Abdul Aziz to put Malaysia ahead 2-1 before the break.

With the difference of only one goal, nearly 2,000 home fans waited for a comeback in the second half from the home team, but things just went from bad to worse.

Malaysia continued to punish Viet Nam when Jamhuri Zainuddin and Qaiser Heshaam Abdul Kadir scored a goal each just four minutes into the second half to make the score 4-1.

Pattaya decided to take risks by replacing goalkeeper Dang Phuoc Anh with a fifth player, but the change proved fatal when Malaysian skipper Addie Azwan Zainal took full advantage of the empty goal to add two, putting Malaysia in the clear 6-1.

Quan brought home another goal, but Muizzudin Mohd Haris and Mohd Ruzaley Abdul Aziz each scored again to secure a brutal 8-2 victory.

To have a place in the quarter finals, Viet Nam must win against Bahrain and Jordan in their remaining matches.

On the women’s side, the Viet Nam team also lost 6-1 to the Thai women in the opener at the third Asian Indoor Games yesterday at Tan Binh Gymnasium.

The Thai team proved too strong for the home team, who were buoyed by thousands of young students cheering them on.

Sasicha Phothiwong tapped in a cross from Siranya Srimanee on the left wing to open the score four minutes inside the first half, and Orathai Srimanee collected the ball from Siranya’s corner to drive home another just two minutes later. — VNS

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