SEA Games: Vietnam to play Thailand in women’s football final

Vietnam are now one win away from defending their SEA Games women’s football gold medal after surging past Myanmar 1-0 in the semi-final clash at Quang Ninh’s Cam Pha Stadium on the evening of May 18.

Forward Huynh Nhu got on the scoresheet to send Mai Duc Chung’s side through to the title match against Thailand, who thrashed the Philippines 3-0 earlier on the same day thanks to goals from Silawan (22’), Taneekarn (47’) and Ploychompoo (90+1’).

Vietnam demonstrated the power of the reigning champions by overwhelming the opponents right after the first whistle.

Hai Yen and Tuyet Dung threatened the Myanmar side several times before Huynh Nhu matched Tuyet Dung’s free-kick with a powerful header to open the scoring for Vietnam in the 28th minute.

Myanmar then pushed hard to equalise, but their attacks were not efficient enough to be transformed into clear-cut opportunities.

Shortly after the break, Myanmar came close to restoring the parity twice but goalkeeper Kim Thanh rescued the Vietnamese side with two smart saves of attempts by Win Theigi Tun.

Thuy Trang wasted two golden chances to double Vietnam’s advantage shooting high after taking a favourable cross from Tuyet Dung in the left flank (56’) and failing to fire a shot in a one-on-one with goalkeeper May Zin New (69’).

The remainder of the match continued to see Myanmar desperate in seeking to approach the Vietnamese goal. The 1-0 score remained unchanged until the final whistle.

The title match between Vietnam and Thailand will take place at Cam Pha Stadium at 7pm on May 21, three hours after the bronze-medal game between the Philippines and Myanmar.