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The venue and time for the semi-final matches of men's football have been changed. This follows the team managers' meeting with the four teams - Vietnam and Malaysia (from Group A) as well as Laos and Singapore (from Group B) - which was held this morning at the Laos Football Federation headquarters this morning.

"The change is deemed to be necessary to accomodate TV requirements and that of the fans," said Phouvanh Vongsouthi, the president of the LFF.

The Vietnam-Singapore match will be played at the Chao Anouvong Stadium, Vientiane Capital. with kick-off at 18:00 hrs while the Laos-Malaysia clash will be held at the Main Stadium of the National Sports Complex, kick-off at 19:00hrs.

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