Vietnam missed out on the overall cup at the 2016 AFF Women’s Championship in Myanmar after losing a penalty shootout to familiar opponents Thailand in the final clash at Mandalarthiri Stadium in Mandalay on August 4.

Inspired by a convincing 2-0 win over Thailand in the group-stage competition, Vietnamese players entered the decisive match with great confidence determined to bring home the third title in the tournament’s history.

However, their ambition was dealt a big blow as Chuong Thi Kieu headed into her own net in the sixth minute, gifting Thailand with an early advantage.

After the loss, Vietnam intensified their attacks and created a number of opportunities to score; however, the strikes by Nguyen Thi Muon, Tuyet Dung and Minh Nguyet were not cunning enough to beat Thai goalkeeper Boonsing.

Meanwhile, Thailand proactively played counterattack and threatened the Vietnamese goal a number of times, forcing goalie Kieu Trinh to work hard to retain the score.

Just as a loss for Vietnam seemed inevitable, striker Minh Nguyen came through with the goods curling a 85th-minute shot into Boonsing’s net to bring the match back to the starting line.

With the 1-1 score unchanged after 90 official minutes of play as well as the following extra times, the match had to be decided via penalty shoot-outs.

In the shootout, four-time finalists Vietnam were unable to secure victory loosing 5-6 to Thailand, thus failing to capture their third championship titles in history.

With the narrow final victory in hand, Thailand successfully defended their 2015 crown won in Vietnam.

Hosts Myanmar were named the third-placed finishers at this year’s tournament after edging out U20 Australia with a score of 1-0 in another match the same day.

Win Theingi Tun of Myanmar won the “top scorer” award of the tournament with a nine-goal tally.