JAKARTA - The long struggle of the Vietnam national team in the 2021 SEA Games semifinals has finally paid off. After playing a long match against Malaysia at the Thien Truong Stadium, Vietnam on Thursday May night, the hosts won 1-0.
After going through the match for 90 minutes of normal time plus two extra time, Vietnam was able to ensure themselves through to the final round through Nguyen Tien Linh's only goal in the 111th minute.
At the beginning of the first half, Malaysia, which was under pressure from the home fans, immediately pressed Vietnam's defense by continuing to attack. This situation continues to be carried out by the Young Tigers in order to open up the advantage first, but these efforts have yet to bear fruit.
Towards the middle of the first half, it was Vietnam's turn to try to open up the opportunity for the first goal. In the 39th minute a golden opportunity appeared for Vietnam, but Nguyen Tien Linh's effort still missed the opponent's goal.
With the remaining time getting narrower before halftime, Vietnam again tried to score the first goal in this match. But, again their efforts have not bear fruit. The referee blew the whistle to mark the end of the first half and the score was still 0-0.
Entering the second half, the game became increasingly fierce because both teams were increasingly ambitious to score goals. Physical clashes between Vietnamese and Malaysian players were also unavoidable, so the referee issued several yellow cards.
A number of opportunities through free kicks also belonged to Vietnam. But the tight guard of the Malaysian players made this golden opportunity wasted.
In the midst of this situation, Malaysia had a chance in the 89th minute through a header from the left side of the Vietnam goal. However, it failed to bear fruit because it was too high. Until the 90th minute the score was still 0-0.
In extra time, precisely in the 111th minute. Nguyen Tien Lih's third chance changed the score to 1-0 for Vietnam. With a narrow victory that took a long time, Vietnam qualified for the final round to compete for the gold medal with Thailand.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, which failed to win in this match, will return to hunting for bronze against Indonesia, which also lost 0-1 to Thailand in an earlier match.
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