The Philippine men’s football team settled for second place in Group A of the 2014 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup as Vietnam exacted revenge against their 2010 tormentors, 3-1, on Friday night at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.
The Vietnamese charge displayed excellent ground passes and sensational striking off the penalty box to repulse the Filipinos and break their two-game Suzuki Cup losing streak against them.
Midfielder Ngo Hoang Thinh opened the scoring parade in the ninth minute with a bullet strike from the left wing around eight yards off the penalty box.
The strike easily swooped in the goal as all four Azkals defenders were absent inside the penalty box.
Nguyen Anh Duc then followed suit, catching a wild toss from Thinh as he sprinted past defender Daisuke Sato in cat-quick fashion, sinking a strike from five yards off the goal for a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute.
Six minutes later, teammate Pham Thanh Luong sank another long strike from five yards outside the penalty box in midfield to hammer the final nail in the coffin for the Azkals.
As consolation prize, Filipino veteran Paul Mulders tapped in a strike from point blank range off a corner pass from Jerry Lucena one minute after Luong’s goal.
It was a lopsided game quality-wise for the Vietnamese as they dominated the entire game in terms of possessions and midfield defense. On the other hand, the Filipinos were lackadaisical in their vaunted back row defense as they failed to anticipate Vietnam’s long range shots.
