Striker Nguyen Anh Duc scored a brace to help Viet Nam Olympic team edge Malaysian Olympic team 2-1 in the first day of competition at the international football tournament for Olympic teams.

 

The victory gave Viet Nam three points and the top place when Iran and Singapore drew 1-1 in the previous match.

 

With the support of about 15,000 fans, Viet Nam started the game confidently and quickly took control of the match as Malaysia sat back in defence.

 

The host team dominated most of the first half thanks to the liveliness of midfielders Dinh Thanh Trung, Le Van Thang and skillful winger Nguyen Duc Thien along with the solid wall of halfback pair Nguyen Minh Duc and Nguyen Thanh Long Giang.

 

Nine minutes into the game, Tran Dinh Dong was close to scoring when Malaysian goalkeeper Che Mat Khairul Fahmi kicked the ball to his position. Dong lobbed the ball passed Fahmi but sent it over top the net.

 

After some missed opportunities by Thien and Trung, striker Nguyen Anh Duc opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Thien made a wonderful solo effort running from the middle of the field past two Malaysian players before feeding the ball to Duc who easily beat Fahmi to put host team ahead. Only six minutes later, Duc doubled the score after he and Thien combined to break the Malaysian defence.

 

Just as fans were are getting excited with what host team’s performance.

 

Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong made a massive mistake. Truong’s free kick from the left wing corner unexpectedly fell to Talaha Norshahrul Idlan, who was then left with an easy opening to the unguarded net.

 

The second half became more balanced as Malaysia’s goal in the first half boosted morale for the second half, while Viet Nam faced some psychological problems and could not regain the rhythm they had created in the first half.

 

"We played in the first half and had an early 2-0 lead, but some players showed complacency and made some mistakes that allowed Malaysia to get back into the game," Vietnamese manager Phan Thanh Hung said after the match.

 

"Players did not play well in the second half and moreover, Malaysia caused much difficulty for us by using the high, long ball to take advantage of their strikers’ strength and speed," Hung added.

 

Malaysian coach K. Rajagopal admitted that his team "started the match badly and conceded easy goals even though we knew that Viet Nam would play fast football and attack aggressively from the beginning."

 

"Our team regained confidence after reducing the deficit and played better in the second half," he said.

(Vietnam news)