Malaysia to take on Vietnam in football semi-finals

HANOI: Malaysia will take on defending champions Vietnam in the semi-final stage of the 31st South East Asian Games football tournament, scheduled to take place at Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho province on Thursday.

The national under-23 (U23) squad finished second in Group B behind Thailand, who will take on Indonesia in the other semi-final match as the remaining four teams strive for the gold medal at the biennial Games.

The U-23 squad, under Brad Maloney, had been predicted to finish at the top of the group and started off their campaign well with a 2-1 win against Thailand followed by a 3-1 victory over Laos.

Unfortunately, they then drew 2-2 against Singapore and Cambodia respectively, finishing with eight points.

Thailand meanwhile had a resurgence after their loss to the national U-23 team, carving three consecutive wins, 5-0 against Singapore, Cambodia (5-0) and 10 against Laos.

The last time Malaysia and Vietnam met in the semi-finals was in the 2005 edition in the Philippines, with Vietnam emerging with a 2-1 win, and the national squad ending their campaign with a bronze after downing Indonesia 1-0 in the third place decider.

Malaysia also lost to Vietnam at the same stage in 2003, suffering a 3-4 defeat, and once again finding consolation in the bronze by beating Myanmar.

Malaysia did, however, exact revenge on Vietnam in 2009 when they won the gold with a 10 win in the final in Laos. The last time Malaysia won the gold in the SEA Games football tournament was in 2011 in Indonesia, under the guidance of Datuk Ong Kim Swee.

Their best showing after that was a silver in 2017, and they were eliminated in the group stage in 2019 edition in the Philippines.