Football: Singapore out of ASEAN Championship after 1-3 loss to Vietnam in second leg of semis

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PHU THO: Singapore’s slim hopes of making the ASEAN Championship final were dashed on Sunday (Dec 29) after a 1-3 loss to Vietnam at the Viet Tri stadium in Phu Tho.

This meant the Lions were eliminated 1-5 on aggregate after a 0-2 loss in Singapore last Thursday.

Tsutomu Ogura’s team had matched regional heavyweights Vietnam for large swathes of the first leg, and they continued in the same vein, showing no signs of being overawed away in Vietnam.

The Lions had the ball in the back of the net early on – a long throw from Lionel Tan caused problems in the box and Faris Ramli was eventually able to head home.

But celebrations were short-lived after a long Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check deemed he was offside following the initial header by Shawal Anuar.

“The referee is the decision-maker. We can’t talk about: ‘when (or) if.’ This is football,” said Ogura, when asked if that decision had changed how things unfolded. 

In a contentious turn of events, VAR adjudged that naturalised Brazilian Nguyen Xuan Son was pulled by Tan in the penalty box shortly before half-time.

Tan was initially red carded, but that was changed to a yellow following a lengthy VAR check. Nguyen Xuan Son kept his composure to put his team 1-0 up in the 46th minute.

As Singapore searched for their first goal in the second half, it was Vietnam who doubled their lead in the 63th minute. Nguyen Hoang Duc beat both Amirul Adli and Lionel Tan before Nguyen Xuan Son finished from close range to whip the home crowd into a jubilant frenzy.

But the Lions pulled a goal back about 10 minutes later after substitute Hami Syahin found Kyoga Nakamura, who bent one into the bottom corner.

While Singapore hunted for an equaliser, it was Nguyen Tien Linh who capped off the win for the home side. He tucked away Vietnam’s second penalty of the night in stoppage time after Amirul pushed a Vietnamese attacker in the box.

“Today our players … are showing that (they can) play our football. I’m very proud of our players, that they are improving more and more, game by game,” said Ogura at a post-match press conference.

“They were not scared, not afraid to play against Vietnam national team. They are a good team, but we still kept fighting and showed the fighting spirit.”

In the first leg, two late goals – a controversial stoppage-time penalty from Nguyen Tien Linh in the 101st minute and a strike from Nguyen Xuan Son three minutes later – meant that the Lions had it all to do in Vietnam.

Prior to Thursday’s semi-final first leg, Vietnam had topped Group B with three wins and a draw. The Lions finished second in Group A with two wins, a draw and a defeat to Thailand.

Vietnam will take on either Thailand or the Philippines in the final.   

Underdogs Philippines beat the defending champions 2-1 in the first leg and hold a slender advantage going into Monday’s reverse fixture in Bangkok.

Catch the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 live or on-demand for free from Dec 8, 2024, to Jan 5, 2025, on mewatch. Visit mewatch.sg/aseancup for more details.