Malaysia win their first ASEAN Cup

Mohd Safee Sali of Malaysia (right) scores one goal in the AFF Suzuki Cup second leg final match in Jakarta. Malaysia win 4-2 on aggregate while Safee became the best score of the tournament with fifth goal. — AFP/VNA Photo

HA NOI — Malaysia beat Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate to win the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup for the first time in the country's history yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

A loss of 1-2 to the hosts in the final's second leg match could not stop Malaysia from opening a new chapter in the history of the regional football tournament which up until now had been dominated by three-time winners Thailand and Singapore.

Mohd Safee Sali opened the scoring for Malaysia nine minutes after the break. Until then Indonesia had made things difficult for their opponents, attacking aggressively with a view to levelling the three-goal deficit they faced after the first leg match.

The talented player who scored twice in the semi-final against Viet Nam got his goal after he received a long-range pass and shot truly into the net.

The goal made him the top striker of the tournament with five goals to his name.

Indonesia, with their President watching on, found their equaliser in the 71th minute when defender Mohammad Nasuha scored from near the edge of the box.

His team doubled their tally 17 minutes later when Muhammad Ridwan scored his third goal at the tournament. His strong shot deflected off a Malaysian player before entering the net.

Malaysia are surprise winners of the tournament. At the previous championship two years ago they were ousted in the qualifying round.

This time they were placed in the ‘group of death' together with Thailand and Indonesia and after their humiliating 1-5 loss to hosts Indonesia in the group stage, no one gave them a chance.

The team only made it through to the knockout stage after Thailand, the most powerful team in Southeast Asia, were eliminated from the championship.

However, after that they had a complete reversal of form. First there was a great 2-0 victory over defending champion Viet Nam in the semi-final and then a 3-0 victory over Indonesia in the final's first leg on Sunday.

It has been be a very successful year for Malaysia with two important titles going to them in the last twelve months. Last December Malaysia defeated Viet Nam 1-0 to claim the Southeast Asian Games Cup.

Yesterdays' match did not help Indonesia's coach Alfred Riedl shake off his ‘Mr Silver' moniker. Once again, he pocketed a silver medal, just as he has done on every single occasion he has taken a team to a tournament final. The previous occasions were when he worked with Viet Nam several years back. — VNS

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Malaysia close in on AFF Cup

HA NOI — Malaysia sent Viet Nam crashing out of the AFF Suzuki Cup with a goalless draw in their semi-final second leg at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium on Saturday.

Malaysia made the final of the biennial championship for the first time in 14 years following the 2-0 advantage they earned in Kuala Lumpur four days ago.

After the game, chief coach K. Rajagobal said that although the football might not have been entertaining, they totally deserved the result.

"I cannot express what I feel right now. The players showed the real ‘harimau' – the Malaysian tiger. We knew that it was going to be a tough match but we were confident and we were disciplined in defence and followed the game plan," said Rajagobal.

"The first 15 to 20 minutes were crucial and we knew if we conceded a goal it would spell trouble for us. Our defence was good considering two of them are under 21 years old, it speaks volumes about their future.

"I told them tonight, we must play simple and while it might look ugly, we just have to make the clearance, no matter what. Our captain [Safiq Rahim] is a naturally attacking player but tonight, he was told to play deeper and he did."

The onus was always going to be on Viet Nam and in front of a sell-out crowd of 40,000, the home team wasted no time in pushing forward from South Korean referee Kim Sang-woo's first whistle.

The return of Nguyen Trong Hoang gave more bite on the left flank and he made Malaysian leftback Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar work overtime to ensure his crosses did not make into the Malaysian box.

In the ninth minute, Hoang shot through a sea of legs but there were no takers at the far post.

Barely a minute later, tragedy struck for Viet Nam with Phan Van Tai Em stretchered off with a suspected broken arm following a clash with Malaysia's Mohd Safee Sali.

His replacement, Le Tan Tai, took over where he had left off and his double shot saw Malaysian goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat rise to the occasion.

Malaysia's only chance in the first half was a curling shot from Norshahrul Idlan Talaha which narrowly missed the upright.

Viet Nam did not let up on the pressure in the second half but they just couldn't seem to find a way past Khairul as he stood firm to frustrate the home team.

In the 62nd minute, Viet Nam should have taken the lead but lanky striker Nguyen Viet Thang could only head Pham Thanh Luong's cross tamely into the path of Khairul.

About ten minutes later, Viet Nam's frustration was complete when Luong took a dive in the box leaving the referee with little choice but to show him his second yellow card of the game.

"I'm responsible for the loss, don't criticise the players. If you need to criticise anyone, criticise me," said Viet Nam chief coach Henrique Calisto at the post match press conference.

"We did not lose here, we lost in Kuala Lumpur and I think that we were the better team over both legs. Sometimes, we win and sometimes we lose – that's life. Show me a coach who never loses.

"The loss of Luong was unfortunate although I agreed with the referee's decision."

Malaysia will meet with Indonesia who defeated the Philippines 1-0 in the second semi-final match yesterday. —VNS

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Malaysia beat Viet Nam 2-0 in AFF

Best foot forward: Midfielder Nguyen Vu Phong (right) attempts to get past a Malaysian defender in the team's semi-final first leg encounter of the ASEAN Football Championship, AFF-Suzuki Cup in Kuala Lumpar yesterday. Malaysia won 2-0. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HA NOI — Striker Safee Sali's brace saw Malaysia beat Viet Nam 2-0 in the first leg of the ASEAN Football Championship AFF-Suzuki Cup semi-final yesterday.

The loss will mean defending champions Viet Nam will face a hard task in the second leg match at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium on Saturday.

Although starting the game well in the first minutes, the Vietnamese side did little to trouble the well-organised Malaysian defence.

In the 15th minute, captain Minh Phuong launched a grass-skimming 25m rocket heading for the far corner, but Malaysian keeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat made a good save.

The hosts replied five minutes later when Safee's powerful header tested Vietnamese keeper Bui Tan Truong.

Midfielder Vu Phong closed the goalless first half time with a free kick in the 40th minute, which was pushed away by goalie Khairul.

After the break, Coach Henrique Calisto brought on midfielder Nguyen Minh Chau and striker Nguyen Viet Thang to try and force a goal; however, they failed to have much of an impact against Malaysia's well-organised team.

Safee gave Malaysia the lead in the 61st minute as his well-taken free kick beat Vietnamese keeper Truong.

Truong once again held some of the blame for the second Malaysian goal in the 80th minute.

Midfielder Safiq Bin Rahim in a rapid attack fired a 25m shot from the right hand edge of the penalty area, but despite Truong comfortably getting a hand to ball, the Vietnamese contrived to palm it out to a borderline off-side Safee who doubled his goals for the night with a nicely placed shot through the despairing Vietnamese keeper.

Despite Vietnam attempting to rally for the last 10 minutes of the match, sloppy passing and a lack of urgency meant they created few chances of note.

Indonesia will host the Philippines in the other semi-final in Jakarta today. — VNS

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Fans frustated by Cup ticket fiasco

HA NOI — Hundreds of Vietnamese fans representing organisations registering for tickets for the forthcoming second leg, semi-final ASEAN Football Championship, AFF-Suzuki Cup match between Viet Nam and Malaysia queued for hours yesterday at the Viet Nam Football Federation office.

However, members of the public will struggle to get a ticket as demand is likely outstrip supply a day before the tickets go on general sale on Thursday.

Viet Nam will face Malaysia in the first leg away tomorrow, while the return match will be played at the 40,000-capacity My Dinh National Stadium on Saturday.

The VFF announced last week that it had begun receiving registrations for tickets from organisations yesterday, while fans could only purchase tickets at My Dinh Stadium, or via www.aleale.com.vn.

Due to high demand, people are only allowed to buy two tickets, with prices varying from VND100,000 to 400,000 (US$5-20).

"We're estimating that demand is three to four times the 40,000 capacity for the second leg," a ticket distributor Viet Nam Football Development JSC (VFD), staff member said.

"It's the biggest imbalance between demand and capacity we've ever seen for a football match in Viet Nam. Vietnamese fans are desperate to watch this game at the stadium rather than on TV," she said.

"Over 400 organisations registered to buy at least 2,000 tickets in just three hours this morning, but I'm sure that the figure will exceed the company's allocation of 8,000 tickets. In the last two years, we received 1,000 orders of 40 and 50 tickets each."

According to VFD, 40,000 tickets, included 4,000 invitations, have been allocated for the match, of which 8,000, only 20 per cent of total tickets, will be available for purchase via the internet or SMS text message.

Meanwhile, the match organising committee has also had to reserve a number of tickets for Malaysian fans, who are flocking to Viet Nam for the second leg match this weekend.

This will cause a serious shortage of tickets and many fans will find it next to impossible to see the semis.

Viet Nam narrowly qualified for the semi-final with a 1-0 win over Singapore in their last game, following a 7-1 trouncing of Myanmar and a bitter 2-0 loss to the Philippines.

For the final match between Viet Nam and Thailand two years ago, Vietnamese fans had to fork out up to VND3 million ($150) to ticket touts – a significant increase on the face value of VND80,000 ($4).

In the match between Viet Nam and the Brazilian Olympic team, fans had to pay VND3.2 million ($160), four times as much as original of VND700,000 ($35), for a black market ticket. — VNS

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Foreigners add spice to AFF

by Tien Thanh

Exotic flavour: English-born Filipino Philip James Younghusband (right) is one several ‘imported' players competing in the AFF Suzuki Cup's semi-final round. The Philippines will meet co-host Indonesia in the game's first leg on December 16 in Jakarta. — VNA/VNS Photo Quoc Khanh

HCM CITY — The semi-finals of the region's biggest football championship will be especially significant this year, as foreign-born players are competing on several teams.

After the eight-day competition in the group stage, defending champions Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have qualified for the AFF Cup semi-finals.

This is only the second time since the tournament began in 1996 when the elite group of Thailand, Singapore, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Malaysia did not dominate the semi-finals.

With Viet Nam and Malaysia both suffering a defeat in the group stage, they are considered to be less consistent than Indonesia and the Philippines, who remain unbeaten.

Clash of natives

The first semi-final between Viet Nam and Malaysia is not only a match to decide which team will advance to the final, but also a testament to the different policies that Viet Nam Football Federation and the Football Association of Malaysia are applying to their domestic football leagues.

Viet Nam's V-League is considered the best football league in Southeast Asia by Indonesia's Austrian head coach Alfred Riedl and Laos' English head coach David Booth.

V-League allows its clubs to recruit foreign players. But, unlike Viet Nam and most countries in the region, Malaysia does not allow clubs in their Super League to use foreign players because they want to use and develop only local players for their Olympic and national teams.

Although the two countries are developing their domestic football leagues in different ways, both Viet Nam and Malaysia are using only native-born players.

Viet Nam's team had a few foreign-born players last year, but does not have any this year.

Although the Malaysian Olympic team edged Viet Nam in the final at the SEA Games' football competition last year in Laos, Viet Nam holds the advantage over Malaysia in the encounter between the two senior national teams.

"Viet Nam has a great chance to defend the title because their play is great and the defending champions also have good players led by an experienced tactician, Henrique Calisto," a football commentator on ESPN said.

"Although Malaysia has been weakened because of a few injured players, what they did in the SEA Games in Laos last year and in the group stage of AFF Suzuki Cup this year showed they have great character to come back," he said.

Foreign influx

Since the Tiger Cup 2004, foreign-born players have been part of the region's biggest football competition, with Singapore being the first country to use foreign-born players.

AFF Suzuki Cup this year saw two more countries opting to call up foreign-born players: the Philippines, which has eight foreign-born players, and Indonesia, which has two.

The second semi-final between Indonesia and the Philippines promises to be a very exciting match as it becomes a showdown between a varied attacking style and a highly-organised defensive style of play.

Indonesia's attacking capacity comes from targetmen Uruguayan-born Christian Gonzales and Dutch-born Irfan Bachdim up front.

Blistering wingers Oktovianus Maniani and Firman Utina on two wings will face the Philippines' solid and organised defence with lanky but reliable keeper Neil Etheridge, who grew up in England, at the goal.

"They (Philippines) defend very well and are organised, with goalkeeper Neil Etheridge being reliable at the goal. That is why they have conceded only one goal so far," the ESPN commentator said.

He predicted that Viet Nam and Indonesia would play in the final. — VNS

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Athletes capture twin golds at Malaysia Open

Vietnamese track and field athletes returned home from the Malaysia Open on the weekend with two gold and one silver medals.

Regional sprint queen Vu Thi Huong, who won the first semi-final, went
on to take the title of the women's 100m event in a time of 11.55sec.
Her teammate Le Ngoc Phuong, who won the second semi-final, pocketed the
silver in 11.79 sec.

They both later participated in the women's 4x100m relay, which Vietnam easily won in a time of 45.06sec.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh said he was pleased with the team's
achievements, even though they had performed better at other
tournaments.

"They performed well and achieved some
good results at the [ Malaysia ] Open. What I regretted most however
is that the competition attracted only Southeast Asian athletes, so we
were not able to test ourselves against the best in the region," Minh
said.

He added that he was not disappointed that Huong
did not get closer to her best time of 11.34, which she achieved when
winning the SEA Games title. He said there were still three weeks to go
to the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), when he said he believed Huong would be
at her peak.

At the biggest sports event in the
region, Vietnamese athletes will compete in the women's 200m, 800m,
1,500m, 400m hurdle and 4x400m relay; while the men will take part in
the 800m, 1,500m, long jump, triple jump and decathlon.

The track and field events start on November 21, with the finals
taking place six days later at the Aoti Stadium in Guangzhou ./.

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Athletes capture twin golds at Malaysia Open

Home in a flash: Vu Thi Huong wins a gold medal in the women's 100m sprint at the Malaysia Open. She then added another gold in the team 4x100m relay. Huong is one of favourites among Vietnamese in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, on November 12-27. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung

HA NOI — Vietnamese track and field athletes returned home from the Malaysia Open on the weekend with two gold and one silver medals.

Regional sprint queen Vu Thi Huong, who won the first semi-final, went on to take the title of the women's 100m event in a time of 11.55sec. Her teammate Le Ngoc Phuong, who won the second semi-final, pocketed the silver in 11.79 sec.

They both later participated in the women's 4x100m relay, which Viet Nam easily won in a time of 45.06sec.

Coach Nguyen Dinh Minh said he was pleased with the team's achievements, even though they had performed better at other tournaments.

"They performed well and achieved some good results at the [Malaysia] Open. What I regretted most however is that the competition attracted only Southeast Asian athletes, so we were not able to test ourselves against the best in the region," Minh said.

He added that he was not disappointed that Huong did not get closer to her best time of 11.34, which she achieved when winning the SEA Games title. He said there were still three weeks to go to the 16th Asian Games (ASIAD), when he said he believed Huong would be at her peak.

At the biggest sports event in the region, Vietnamese athletes will compete in the women's 200m, 800m, 1,500m, 400m hurdle and 4x400m relay; while the men will take part in the 800m, 1,500m, long jump, triple jump and decathlon.

The track and field events start on November 21, with the finals taking place six days later at the Aoti Stadium in Guangzhou. — VNS

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VN favourites for regional cup

HCM CITY — The draw for the Asean Football Federation (AFFC) Suzuki Cup 2010 in Ha Noi on Wednesday appeared like any other, but it was a significant event for Vietnamese football.

For the first time in the competition's 14-year history, Viet Nam were seeded first.

Although Viet Nam are the reigning champions, the top seeding caps the country's remarkable progress since it rejoined regional football as a fully independent nation only 19 years ago.

The national football team at that time was an enigma to then-strong teams like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

On Viet Nam's debut at the region's largest sporting event, the 1991 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines, Viet Nam were drawn in Group B with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

They drew 2-2 with the Philippines but lost 2-1 to Malaysia and 1-0 to Indonesia and failed to qualify for the semi-final.

At the following Singapore SEA Games in 1993, Viet Nam showed progress, beating the Philippines for the first time but eventually went home after the group stages, losing 1-0 to Indonesia and 2-0 to Singapore.

Turning point

The turning point in Vietnamese football came in Thailand when they sprung a surprise at the 18th SEA Games in 1995, by winning a silver medal after losing to Thailand in the final.

After losing to the eventual winners in their opener, they beat Indonesia, a very strong team at that time. They went on to defeat Cambodia 4-0 before further progressing with a 2-0 win over Malaysia.

Winning streak

Their winning streak continued with a last gasp victory over Myanmar in the semi-final before eventually succumbing to Thailand in the final.

This year's tournament is scheduled to be hosted by Viet Nam and Indonesia in December with the two top teams from each group progressing into the semi-finals, which will be played in two-leg matches.

Viet Nam enter the championships as number one seeds. Winning the trophy for a second time would see Viet Nam pull along side Thailand and Singapore among the Southeast Asian elite.

Viet Nam are in the same group as Singapore, Myanmar and the runners-up of the final qualifying round between Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

According to Viet Nam coach Henrique Calisto, the draw is favourable for the defending champions, and Vietnamese football fans may well be in for more noisy celebrating. — VNS

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Nadal and Djokovic delayed by rain

Rafa Nadal will have to wait at least one more day for a chance to complete his collection of grand slam titles after persistent rain washed out Sunday's US Open men's final against Novak Djokovic

Photo: Reuters

NEW YORK – Rain showers on Sunday forced postponement of the US Open men's final to Monday for the third year in a row, giving Novak Djokovic a much-needed rest day before he has to face top-ranked Rafael Nadal.

US Tennis Association officials waited about two hours beyond the scheduled start time of the championship match at Arthur Ashe Stadium before calling off play for the day under dismal skies with dreary downpours forecast until dawn.

Spanish left-hander Nadal, trying to complete a career Grand Slam by capturing his first title on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts, was hit by rain at the US Open for the third year in a row.

Djokovic, whose lone Grand Slam title came at the 2008 Australian Open, has never beaten Nadal in a final or at a Grand Slam event but is set to try again for the 1.7 million-dollar top prize at 4 pm (2000 GMT).

Nadal can become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having won US, French and Australian Opens and Wimbledon titles.

But the extra day of rest diminishes the fatigue factor that might have slowed Djokovic in the wake of an exhausting 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 Saturday semi-final victory over 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

"I don't know the rituals how to invite the rain, but yeah, an extra day would be great actually," Djokovic said after his victory over Federer.

"Definitely I will have to do a lot of recovery because it has been an exhausting match."

Last year, rain delayed the finish of a Nadal US Open quarter-final against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez from Thursday to Saturday, pushing the semi-finals to Sunday and the men's final to Monday.

In 2008, rain halted a Saturday semi-final between Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray in the third set and postponed the finish of that match until Sunday and the men's final until Monday, something that had not happened since 1987.

Now Nadal has an extra day to wait and think about a match that could lift his legend to another level with the Grand Slam sweep.

"Is for sure going to be an important match," Nadal said. "For sure this one is going to be something new."

Nadal owns a 14-7 career edge in their rivalry but has lost his past three matches against Djokovic, the most recent in London at last year's ATP Finals. He last beat the Serbian on hardcourts in a 2008 Beijing Olympics semi-final.

Nadal seeks his ninth career Slam crown and third in a row after taking the Wimbledon and French Open trophies.

No Spaniard has won the US Open title since Manuel Orantes in 1975. The only other Spanish man to win the US Open was Manuel Santana in 1965. No left-hander has won the US Open men's title since US southpaw John McEnroe in 1984

Nadal has not dropped a set in the tournament and could become the first US Open men's champion not to drop a set in the tournament since Australian Neale Fraser half a century ago.

Nadal has lost only two service games in the tournament and could have the fewest broken serves of any US Open men's champion, a mark held by Andy Roddick in allowing only five during his 2003 title run.

Djokovic, who will pass Federer for the world number two ranking after the final, could become the first US Open champion to have saved a match point in the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. Djokovic rescued two to beat Federer.

Rain halted the women's doubles final with American Liezel Huber and Russian Nadia Petrova leading American Vania King and Kazak Yaroslavl Shvedova 6-2, 4-6, 5-4. The match is set to be completed before the men's final starts.

 

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Djokovic stuns Federer, has Nadal in US Open final

Rafael Nadal from Spain celebrates after his win against Mikhail Youzhny from Russia during the men's singles semi-finals of the US Open 2010 match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York

Photo: AFP

NEW YORK – Novak Djokovic tore up the script at the US Open on Sunday defeating Roger Federer in a pulsating semi-final to torpedo hopes for a dream final between the Swiss star and Rafael Nadal.

The Serb third seed saved two fifth-set match points before producing a final flourish to hand a crushing defeat to five-time former winner Federer 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

Top seed Nadal had earlier won through to his first US Open final in starkly contrasting style, coasting past Russian 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

The Federer-Djokovic match was the best yet in the tournament, swinging one way and then the other twice before it came down to who could find another gear at the culmination of the fifth set.

Federer had reached the last six finals at Flushing Meadows, winning five of them until he lost to Juan Martin del Potro last year. He had two match points on the Djokovic serve at 5-4 but could not take them.

Djokovic then broke Federer in the next game and he held his nerve to serve out for his first win over the 16-time Grand Slam winner at the US Open, having lost to him in the 2007 final and the semi-finals in 2008 and 2009.

Federer, who won the Australian Open this year, but went out in the quarter-finals at the French Open and at Wimbledon, said that it had been a tough loss.

"Can't turn back time, but obviously he had to come up with a couple of good shots on match point, so I don't feel I have that many regrets in that regard," he said.

"Obviously you feel like you left something out there if you lose the match having had match point.

"But it wasn't the final, so I'm not as disappointed it would have been the final. That's the only positive news to enjoy anything out of it."

Djokovic, whose single Grand Slam title to date came at the 2008 Australian Open, when he also beat Federer in the semi-finals, said that it had been a match he would remember for the rest of his life.

"Not just because I won against one of the best players that ever played this game at that occasion, but as well coming back from match points down and under the circumstances playing good tennis and winning in the end, the thriller, you know.

"I am very proud of myself. There are a lot of emotions involved. Of course I was too exhausted to show them in the end. But it has been a fantastic semi-final."

Nadal's win over Youzhny was a one-sided affair, with the Spaniard too powerful and confident against an opponent who had needed to battle through a long five-setter just to reach the last four.

The French Open and Wimbledon champion powered into the final without losing a set and he has dropped his serve only twice in six games.

"It's another step I think in my career, so for sure is a very important victory for me," Nadal said.

"To be in the final of the last Grand Slam of the year is something new, because I always arrived here with problems."

Speaking before the second semi-final had started, Nadal said that Djokovic would be a tough opponent in the final.

"He's a very difficult opponent for me, especially I had a lot of loses against him in this kind of surface," he said.

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