Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hanoi: Malaysia are through to the final of the 2014 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship after claiming a 5-4 aggregate win over Vietnam in the semi-finals.
Although they entered Thursday’s return encounter at the My Dinh National Stadium as underdogs after falling to a 2-1 loss in Sunday’s first leg in Selangor, Harimau Malaya turned the tie on its head with a blistering start inside the opening 16 minutes.
First, Safiq Rahim kept his cool – even at the second time of asking after the referee had ordered a retake – to open the scoring from the penalty spot in the fourth minute, following a trip on Indra Putra Mahayuddin by Que Ngoc Hai inside the box.
Then 12 minutes later, Amri Yahyah’s searching 40-yard pass led to a moment of hesitation between Dinh Tien Thanh and Nguyen Van Bien, allowing Norshahrul Idlan Talaha to capitalise and lift the ball over the onrushing Tran Nguyen Manh before firing into the unguarded net to lift the home side stunned.
Nonetheless, the Vietnamese did manage to level the aggregate score when Le Cong Vinh made no mistake from 12 yards, after they had been awarded a spot-kick of their own following a foul on him by Amri in the area.
But a minute before the half-hour mark, Vietnam’s disastrous first-half display worsened when Tien Thanh’s attempt to intercept an Indra Putra Mahayuddin cross went horribly awry, and resulted in him sending the ball looping over Nguyen Manh and into his own goal.
And two minutes before the interval, the Malaysians effectively sealed their progress into the final when Shukor Adan found himself unmarked after Badhri Radzi’s corner had been flicked on into his path by Fadhli Shas; the experienced defender glancing a header in off the post for his side’s fourth.
Still, the hosts did add some respectability to the scoreline when Cong Vinh netted his second of the evening with a powerful drive in the 79th minute, but it is Harimau Malaya that will be facing off against Thailand in the final to be crowned champions of the 2014 AFF Championship.
Speaking after the game, Malaysia boss Dollah Salleh claimed winning a second title is very much possible if his charges can play like they did on Thursday against the Thais.
“The players did exceptionally well and I’m proud of this win, as I’ve only been with the team for a short period of time,” he said.
“Our crosses into the box made the difference… I told the players to pressure the Vietnam backline with crosses and the game plan worked like a charm for us, as three of the goals came that way.
“If we can repeat this performance, we can go further.”
Meanwhile, Vietnam boss Toshiya Miura dismissed talk that complacency was the key factor that ultimately cost his side their bid to win their first Suzuki Cup since 2008.
“We played a terrible game,” the Japanese lamented.
“In the first half, [Malaysia] were more aggressive and we were not able to handle that.
“I don’t think it was because the players had already thought they had qualified for the final.”