Vietnam coach unhappy despite thumping Laos in opener

underlined their credentials as favourites when they hammered Laos 3-0 in their opening AFF Cup Group A match in Vientiane on Thursday.

Nguyen Cong Phuong opened scoring in the 11th minute before Nguyen And Duc added a second in the first half of stoppage time past Laos goalkeeper Saymanolinh Praseuth.

Laos tried to create opportunities after the breather but Vietnam were just too solid at the back.

Vietnam, champions in 2008, then wrapped things up with a third goal through Nguyen Quang Hai in the 68th minute.

Despite the impressive start, Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo was unhappy with his charges’ performance.

“Tactically, we should have played with more variety,” South Korean Hang-seo told www.aseanfootball.org on Thursday.

“The target was to earn the three points which we did.”

He noted: “In the final minutes, I was quite annoyed with them as they did not comply to instructions.

“We created a lot of chances, but we just could not score more than three goals.

“I will prepare my players and work on the limitations before our next match,” Hang-seo added.

Laos coach V. Sundramoorthy said: “No doubt, Vietnam are a strong team but we made some individual mistakes and that led to us being under pressure.

“Their second goal just before the break disrupted our plans,” he said.