Vietnam will have to forget their sadness to focus on their bronze-medal match at the SEA Games in Singapore on June 15.
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| Vietnamese football fans at the Kallang National Stadium. |
Vietnam will have to forget their sadness to focus on their bronze-medal match at the SEA Games in Singapore on June 15.
The team had arrived in Singapore with high hopes of winning their first-ever title of the biennial competition. However, a 1-2 loss to Myanmar in the semi-final swept away their dream at the National Stadium on June 13.
Many people cried, players and fans at the stadium and at home. On their Facebook accounts, strikers Mac Hong Quan, Vo Huy Toan, and Le Thanh Binh all said "sorry".
Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura said his team should have wrapped the game up in spite of the penalty they conceded, which led to the team's 2-1 loss to Myanmar.
He noted that his team had enough quality to win the match outright, but the failure of his players to convert the chances they created cost the team in the end.
"We created chances after chances, but we just could not score. That is the failure of our strikers. But this is a problem not only with Vietnam but also with the other teams in ASEAN," Miura was quoted as saying on aseanfootball.org.
"I have no problem with the penalty that we conceded because we showed that we have the quality to create a lot of chances. But when we don't convert them, then it is a problem. In this instance, I have to apologise to our fans for the loss today."
Vietnam's rival in June 15 match is Indonesia who lost 0-5 to Thailand in the second semis.
In the history of Vietnam-Indonesia meets, of the total nine matches played, Vietnam has won only three and drew one, while losing five.
In their latest match, Vietnam were defeated 0-2 in the semi-finals of the 2011 Games in Jakarta.
After a day tasting their sadness, the team went to the stadium for a closed-door training on June 14.
Indonesia also showed their determination for a medal.
Coach Aji Santoso gave his players nearly a day of rest, relaxing with a short practise session to recover their physique.
He said the strongest players will be selected to compete against Vietnam.
The third-place play-off will start at 1pm Hanoi time, while the final will be about six hours later at the National Stadium.
All matches will be aired live on VTV6 channel.
(Source: VNA)
