VietNamNet Bridge – Ten-man Viet Nam defeated Singapore 1-0 to go through to the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup yesterday, Dec 8, at Ha Noi's My Dinh Stadium.

Millions of Vietnamese flooded the streets of the city to celebrate the victory. If Viet Nam 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 32nd minute of the match. Phong's goal followed a three-pass combination started by midfielder Nguyen Trong Hoang and which took in diminutive Thanh Luong.

"My players have played very well in all of their matches, not only today's. Whenever they have had a chance to attack they attacked, and they also defended very well," said Viet Nam's manager Henrique Calisto.

"Today, Viet Nam created many chances and one was turned into a goal but we lost control of the game when Trong Hoang was sent off [in the 63rd minute]. That forced me to replace talented Thanh Luong with a defender and Viet Cuong was sidelined because of injury," Calisto said.

"I have to thank the fans for their great support, which was important to raising my players' 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.

"Meanwhile their failed corner kick was the start of the Vietnamese counter-attack, from which they scored."

The Serbian coach wished Viet Nam good luck at the end of the match, but criticised some of the refereeing.

"My goalkeeper was given a yellow card [for time wasting] when he was simply considering his options. Meanwhile, Vietnamese players who tried to waste time received nothing," he said.

Calisto meanwhile said Singapore's elimination from the tournament was a pity because they were a good team.

When asked about Malaysia, who Viet Nam will meet in the semis, Calisto would not be drawn, and said simply he wanted to savour the quarter-final victory.

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 Tuesday with a 2-0 victory at home.

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 VND7 billion (US$350,000) if they successfully defend their title.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News