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VIENTIANE - Eight-time defending champions Thailand crashed out of the Southeast Asian Games football competition Friday after two late goals from Malaysia, who join Vietnam in the semi-finals.

Needing only a draw to qualify for the last four, Thailand were the better side for large parts of the match and made their superiority count when Arthit Sunthornphit struck seven minutes after half-time direct from a free-kick.

But nine minutes from full-time Nasriq Baharom scored at the far post after a fine cross from the left by Azmi Muslim to level the scores and give Malaysia hope.

On 90 minutes, Ahmad Fakri Saarani won the match for Malaysia, firing home a cross from the right by Norshahrul Idlan Talaha to make it 2-1 and spark wild scenes of celebration.

Vietnam topped Group A with 10 points after thumping Cambodia 6-1, with Malaysia on nine points and Thailand, who had won every SEA Games football tournament since 1993, on seven.

Timor Leste finished bottom of the five-team group with no points after four straight defeats.

Host nation Laos and Singapore on Thursday qualified for the semi-finals of the under-23 competition from Group B.

MediaCorp Channel 5 will telecast the semi-final match between Singapore and Laos live on December 14.



- AFP/ir

Hosts Laos went to the top of Group B of the men’s football event when they beat Indonesia with a comprehensive 2-0 win in the match that was played at the Chao Anuvong Stadium this evening. Laos had held silver medallists Myanmar to a 1-1 draw in their first match of the competition two days ago. But this evening the young side under head coach Alfred Riedl were a lot more determined against an Indonesian eager to win the full points following their own drawn match against Singapore earlier.

It was to be the combination of Engel Bert Sani and Boaz Salossa who were again at the forefront of the Laos attack although they just can’t seem to break past the Laos defence marshalled by the duo of Kitsada and Ketsada.

The game was restricted very much in the midfield as Lamnao Singto once again formed a lethal partnership alongside the returned to fitness Kampheng Sayyavuthi. With the score tied at the half, the game picked up the tempo after the break with Lamnao coming close on several occassions.

But he more than made it up for his earlier misses when in the 66th minute, Kampheng played the ball to Lamnao who ran into the Indonesian box for a grounder which keeper Frenky Irawan tried in vain to stop as it trickled between his legs.

The goal was just what the capacity crowd wanted as they all jumped to their feet in a unison of blue and red - men, women, children and all waving flags. Indonesia attempted to get back into the game by putting more pressure at the centre of the park but it was all in vain as ten minutes later, Laos went further in front.

Lamnao was again in the thick of the action when he capitalised on a defensive mistake to slot the ball home for the hosts to pick up their first full points in the group.


Laoseagames

Bangladesh drew 3-3 with Laos to finish fourth. Laos are bottom with one point, two behind fifth-placed Macau.

Korea Republic beat Thailand 2-1 on Wednesday as both teams qualified from Group E for the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 finals.

Vietnam put themselves in a strong position to claim the best third-placed berth in the finals from East Asia by beating Macau 3-0.

Korea Republic, Thailand and Vietnam all finished on 12 points with the Koreans topping the group on goal difference.

Thailand and Vietnam had exactly the same goals for and against of 9-2. However, the Thais claimed second place because of their 1-0 victory the Vietnamese on Sunday.

Korea Republic’s victory at the Royal Thai Army Stadium came courtesy of an 88th-minute Seo Hong-min goal. Earlier, the Thais went into half-time with a 1-0 lead after Chakrit Ravanprakon scored in the 21st minute.

Source: AFC

The Cambodian U-23s beat their Laos counterparts 2-1 in their BIDC Cup match in Phnom Penh and go through to the two-team final to be played on Saturday with their second win of the competition. Goals from Keo Sokngorn and Nov Soseila sealed the result. It was a very tough game as Laos played very well in the 2nd half after Lamnao Singto got a red card, and the team being reduced to 10 men.

In another match, HAGL won Vissai Ninh Binh 3:0.

Laos will meet HAGL on 11 November 20093.

Table Standing is as follow:
1. Cambodia : 6 points (+2)
2. Hoang Anh Gia Lai : 3 points (+2)
3. Laos : 1 point (-1)
4. Vissai Ninh Binh : 1 point (-3)


Source: http://www.andybrouwer.co.uk/blog/