Football
Vietnam continues mastery of Philippines in ASEAN futsal
After a tight first half, Vietnam poured four goals after the break to continue its mastery of the Philippines with a 6-1 victory Friday at the ASEAN Futsal Federation Futsal Championship in Bangkok.
Luu Quynh Toan opened the scoring five minutes into the game, but Azkals stalwart Misagh Bahadoran equalized with at the 16th minute with his sixth goal in two matches. The Filipinos looked poised to head into the break with a tied game, but Bui Van Thang was able to break the tie a minute before the halftime whistle.
The dam broke for Vietnam in the second half, with Nguyen Bao Quan and Tran Hoang Vinh both scoring successive goals at the 25th minute. The Vietnamese put the game away with another goal from Vinh two minutes later, and Pham Thanh Tuan put the cherry on the sundae with a goal with a minute left in the contest.
It was the first loss in the competition for the Philippines, which defeated Myanmar, 5-4, on opening day. The beatdown was reminiscent of the 2011 Southeast Asian Games futsal competition, wherein Vietnam defeated the Philippines, 7-1.
But the Filipinos still have a chance to make it past the group stage, with crucial matches set against Malaysia on Saturday and Cambodia on Monday.
