Vietnam settled up a Friday semifinal clash against Thailand, after demolishing the Philippines 4-0 at Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on May 6, to end up on top of Group B with nine points after three games.
Vietnam settled up a Friday semifinal clash against Thailand, after demolishing the Philippines 4-0 at Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on May 6, to end up on top of Group B with nine points after three games.
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| Striker Minh Nguyet (number 18) scored a hattrick against the Philippines on Wednesday. |
Despite making relatively good impressions at this year’s tournament, the Philippines was not expected to pose a great threat to Vietnam. Their Wednesday meeting proved it true as the host team took absolute control of the match and outplayed the visitors right from the first whistle.
The battle was decided within the first 45 minutes in Vietnam’s favor, with a hattrick scored by veteran striker Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet and one goal by Tran Thi Thuy Trang.
Minh Nguyet opened the scoring after four minutes before Thuy Trang doubled Vietnam’s lead seven minutes later.
Nguyet made it 3-0 for Vietnam in the 28th minute before netting her third goal in the match with a successful converter of a 38th-minute penalty brought about by teammate Tuyet Dung.
Creating a safe score gap, Vietnam proactively slowed down their pace in the second half aiming to save power for the semifinals, however, constant pressure was still maintained on the guests’ side, leaving them no chance to score.
“I would like to congratulate my players. They really worked hard in the group stage and now they need to take it easy to prepare for the semifinal match against Thailand,” said Vietnam’s coach Takashi Norimatsu in a press brief after the match.
Striker Minh Nguyet could not hide her happiness with her bright performance in the game: “It has been a long time since I last scored three goals in a match. I feel very happy and will strive to score more goals in the next matches.”
In another game the same day, Myanmar also finished off Malaysia with four straight goals to finish second in Group B with six points and settle up the other semifinal clash with U20 Australia tomorrow.
(Source:Nhan Dan)
