Ten-men Vietnam defeated Singapore 1-0 to go through the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup on Dec. 8 at Hanoi ’s My Dinh Stadium.
Millions of Vietnamese flooded the streets of the city to celebrate the victory. If Vietnam had drawn with Singapore , they would have failed to qualify for the next round and Singapore would have gone through instead.
Nguyen Vu Phong scored the only goal of the game with a gentle tap past goal keeper Hassan in the 32 nd minute of the match. Phong’s goal followed a three-pass combination started by mid-fielder Nguyen Trong Hoang and which took in diminutive Thanh Luong.
“My players have played very well in all of their match, not only today’s. Whenever they have had a chance to attack they attacked, and they also defended very well,” said Vietnam ’s manager Henrique Calisto.
“I have to thank the fans for their great support, which was important to raising my player’s spirits in a difficult situation,” he added.
The Portuguese coach also praised left defender Cuong, who asked to continue playing despite being injured in the first half.
Most of Singapore ’s players dropped to the ground when the final whistle came, having missed out on several opportunities to level the match.
“My players tried their best but we were unlucky today. We had enough chances during the game and I am disappointed they did not get a goal,” said Singapore ’s coach Radojko Avramovic.
Vietnam will meet Malaysia in the semis.
The other semi-final will see the Philippines , who for the first time have qualified for the knock-out stages of the competition, will play Indonesia , who sent title favourites Thailand packing on Dec.7 with a 2-0 victory.
The first leg of the semi-finals will take place on December 15-16. The second leg will be three days later.
Vietnamese players have been promised a bonus of 7 billion VND (350,000 USD) if they successfully defend their title./.
Millions of Vietnamese flooded the streets of the city to celebrate the victory. If Vietnam had drawn with Singapore , they would have failed to qualify for the next round and Singapore would have gone through instead.
Nguyen Vu Phong scored the only goal of the game with a gentle tap past goal keeper Hassan in the 32 nd minute of the match. Phong’s goal followed a three-pass combination started by mid-fielder Nguyen Trong Hoang and which took in diminutive Thanh Luong.
“My players have played very well in all of their match, not only today’s. Whenever they have had a chance to attack they attacked, and they also defended very well,” said Vietnam ’s manager Henrique Calisto.
“I have to thank the fans for their great support, which was important to raising my player’s spirits in a difficult situation,” he added.
The Portuguese coach also praised left defender Cuong, who asked to continue playing despite being injured in the first half.
Most of Singapore ’s players dropped to the ground when the final whistle came, having missed out on several opportunities to level the match.
“My players tried their best but we were unlucky today. We had enough chances during the game and I am disappointed they did not get a goal,” said Singapore ’s coach Radojko Avramovic.
Vietnam will meet Malaysia in the semis.
The other semi-final will see the Philippines , who for the first time have qualified for the knock-out stages of the competition, will play Indonesia , who sent title favourites Thailand packing on Dec.7 with a 2-0 victory.
The first leg of the semi-finals will take place on December 15-16. The second leg will be three days later.
Vietnamese players have been promised a bonus of 7 billion VND (350,000 USD) if they successfully defend their title./.
