Viet Nam yesterday lost 5-6 to Australia in the last match of the group round at the ASEAN Football Federation’s Futsal Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.

The defeat makes Viet Nam the second-placed team in Group B, while Australia tops the table.

Both teams have already qualified for the semi-final round earlier. Australia, therefore, avoid a premature clash with hot favourites Thailand in the last-four round here.

The match turned out to be a bruising affair as three players – two Aussies, including their skipper and the Vietnamese keeper – were red carded.

The pressure to win was immense and that may have affected the players.

In his haste to clear the ball, Viet Nam keeper Ngo Dinh Thuan, raced out, slammed into Jarrod Basger and was immediately sent-off at the 12th minute.

Australia quickly took advantage and scored through Wade Giovenali a minute later. Just shortly after, Australia’s Glen Kelshaw was given marching orders.

Viet Nam took their chances well with Le Quoc Nam scoring in the 14th mark.

But Australia soon regained the lead when Giovenali put them ahead again in the next minute.

Jarrod then made it 3-1, but Nguyen Minh Tri shortly had the crowd on its feet with his shot.

But before the Vietnamese could even think of equalising, the Aussies replied with another superb strike from Giovenali in the 18th minute.

It was a thriller of a game, especially in the second half, as Viet Nam stepped up the pace in their hunt for goals and managed to pick up three more through Tran Van Vu, Ngo Ngoc Son and Duong Anh Tung.

Australia also had as many goals after the break with goals by Giovenali and Dean Lockhart hitting the mark.

As the players moved to the centre of the court for the ceremonial finish to shake hands with each other and match officials, Australian skipper Giovenali’s apparently uttered some profanities and was given the sack.

In an earlier Group B match, Myanmar defeated Laos 12-4 to finish third in the ranking.

Viet Nam cruised into the ASEAN Football Federation’s Futsal Championship’s semi-finals, after bashing the Philippines 19-1 yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand.

It was the largest scoring by a team in the tournament this year.

In another match in Group B, Australia raced away with a 15-2 over Laos.

The result not only brought the two winners into the semi-finals, but also helped them to secure places in the Asian Futsal Championships in Uzbekistan next year.

This year’s AFF Futsal is a qualifying competition in which the four top teams will make the cut for the Asian event.

Viet Nam ran riot past the Philippines, to take over the lead with nine points. Pham Duc Hoa and captain Nguyen Bao Quan each scored a hat-trick for the Vietnamese team.

Le Quoc Nam, Vu Xuan Du, and Nguyen Minh Tri each pocketed a double.

Other goals came from Le Duong Anh Tung, Ngo Ngoc Son, Tran Van Vu, Phuong Trong Luan and Danh Phat.

The Philippines netted their own goal in the second half, while Lorenzo Hermosa was on target in the 25th minute.

After the win, Viet Nam jumped on top of the group with nine points, with as many points as Australia, but having better goal differences.

Viet Nam will square off with Australia today, runners-up in last year’s tournament, to decide the final group positions, which will, in turn, determine their opponents in the crossover semi-finals on Wednesday.

Both would like to win to avoid a premature meeting with title favourite Thailand.

In the Group A actions yesterday, Malaysia beat East Timor 7-2 while Thailand brushed aside Brunei 12-2.

The hosts Vietnam missed a win in the 2018 World Cup’s Asian qualifying game with Iraq today in Hanoi as it remained the 1-0 advantage till the last minute of the match when the visitors scored a goal from the penalty kick to level it 1-1.

Cong Vinh opened the score for his host team Vietnam at the 25th minute following a sharp coordination between the striker and midfielder Trong Hoang.

Holding the ball on the left side on home soil, Trong Hoang dribbled it near the Iraqi box on the right side before passing it to Cong Vinh.

Vinh swiftly made his way between two rival defenders to receive the ball and slotted the ball into the near corner on the left of the Iraqi woodwork.

Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh made great contribution to the performance of Vietnam today after refusing at least three clear chances by Iraqi visitors, who pushed up their formation during the last 25 minutes of the match in hope of finding a goal to level the game.

The match was added five extra minutes and in the last-gasp moment of the match, Iraq was awarded a penalty kick since the ball hit the hand of a Vietnamese defender in his box.

Iraq didn’t miss the chance to level the game 1-1. And Australian referee gave the whistle to end the match right after that.

After three games in the 2018 World Cup’s Asian qualifying Group F, Vietnam are now ranking third in the group with four points. Earlier, Vietnam beat Taiwan 2-1 and lost 1-0 to Thailand.

The Thais have earned seven points, while Iraq have accumulated five points, and Taiwan zero.

Vietnam will next take on Thailand on October 13 in the last match round of the qualifying group.

Source tuoitrenews