Nham Manh Dung (11) and teammates struggle against a strong Indonesia side with naturalised players such as Christian Hubner (18) (Photo: VNA). 

Both teams started the match slowly with Vietnam the better in the first 15 minutes. A great chance fell to Nguyen Dinh Bac in the 12th minute, but the youngster squandered the opportunity.

Ten minutes later, Vietnam had a good shout for a penalty when Hoang Duc was brought down inside Indonesia's penalty area, but the referee waved play on, adamant that the defender got to the ball first.

The match's pace was slowed down even more by fouls from Indonesian players, and the first half soon came to an end with a goalless score line.

Coach Shin Tae-yong brought on three substitutions after the break, with the goliath defender Sandy Walsh, throw-in specialist Pratama Arhan and midfielder Egy Maulana Vikri entering the field.

Two of those substitutions worked wonderfully, as Pratama and Egy Maulana combined to open the score for Indonesia in the 51st minute.

The Indonesians stayed strong in the final minutes and successfully defended their narrow 1-0 victory.

With this defeat, Vietnam is now in third place with only three points, whereas Indonesia jumped from bottom of the group to second place.

Vietnam needs a victory in the rematch at home in My Dinh on March 26 and another defeat would spell doom for the team's qualification hopes./.VNA