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Bouncing with joy: Chris Greatwich (left) of the Phillipines celebrates with his teammates after scoring the opening goal against Viet Nam in their 2-0 victory. The win marks their new point as it is the first time they defeat Southeast Asian powerhouse Viet Nam in a football event. — VNA/VNS Photo |
The visitors created the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a strong defensive display that left defending champions Viet Nam searching for answers in their second group B match.
It was the first time the Philippines had ever beaten Viet Nam in an international tournament.
Chris Greatwich opened the scoring for the Philippines in the 38th minute and Philip Younghusband added a second in the 78th minute, both from counter-attacks resulting from mistakes by the hosts who left themselves thin at the back as they went in search of a goal.
Their victory was a great gift to chief coach Simon McMenemy who will be 33 today.
McMenemy, who is on a four-month contract with the Philippines, fielded a defensive line up that succeeded in dominating the midfield, not allowing the Vietnamese players a chance to get into their stride.
"I am pleased with the way my players did. They overcome the obstacle of Viet Nam today," said McMenemy.
"I told them before the match that they should keep working hard and play their best and wait for some luck. They had a good game and converted two out of three chances into goals," he added.
However Viet Nam's manager Henrique Calisto did not agree with his colleague.
"[Despite loss] I congratulate my players because they played with a lot of effort until the last minute. But they were the only side that played football today. You can lose the game but you must lose with honour," the Portuguese coach said, adding that the visitors had parked a double decker in front of their net to stop Viet Nam from scoring.
"I told my team that the Philippines are good in defence and they proved that today with eight players on their team. If Viet Nam had scored once, things would have been different," Calisto said.
The Philippines now top group B with one win and one draw, and know that they only need a draw in their next game against Myanmar to book a place in the semi-finals.
Viet Nam take on Singapore on Wednesday and need to win in order to be guaranteed of a semi-final spot. A draw would only be good enough if Myanmar defeat the Philippines, which many people think is highly unlikely.
In the early match yesterday, Singapore came from behind to beat Myanmar 2-1 to rank second in the group while Viet Nam dropped to third after two matches. — VNS
