Vietnam mangles Phl, 3-1, in SEAG opener

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines was schooled by Vietnam, 3-1, last night in their opening match for group B of the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) football event played at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Vietnam had ball possession most of the game, but the Philippines broke the ice game courtesy of Fil-German Manny Ott, who found the back of the net on the 37th minute.

It was a fine display by the Philippine offense that found Ott open for the shot that was too far left for the Vietnamese goalkeeper to stop.

The Philippines held on to that 1-0 lead at the bend.

Then things began to sour for the Philippines under Azkals coach Michael Weiss in the second half.

Vietnam launched one wave of attack after another as they controlled ball possession 69 percent of the time.

After repulsing several attacks due to a very weak left-side defensive line, Vietnam switched to the right and equalized off an own goal by team captain Matthew Hartman, who failed to clear an attempt with a header on the 59th minute.

Vietnam continued to pound the sloppy Philippine defense and the Junior Azkals only found one good chance to score again, but the left-footer hit the far past.

Vietnam’s Le Hoang Thien made it 2-1 on the 73rd minute as the 2009 SEA Games silver medalists continued to put pressure on the Philippines. 

Goalkeeper Roland Muller, who had a spectacular performance for the Philippines, paid dearly for an unnecessary dive when he left an open goal for Thien after he cleared an earlier attempt.

The final tally was settled one minute into stoppage time as Nguyen Van Quyet slammed the ball in after breaking away on the left side of the Philippine goal.

The Philippines will be facing lightweight Timor Leste on Monday.  (FREEMAN)