Shut out Vietnamese side, silence 40,000 fans

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines continued its sensational run in the AFF Suzuki Cup Sunday night when it blanked defending champion Vietnam, 2-0, to gain top spot in Group B at the My Dinh Stadium in Vietnamese capital of Hanoi Sunday night.

Refusing to be daunted by the crowd of close to 40,000 and a team that smashed Myanmar, 7-1, the Filipinos drew goals from Filipino-British midfielder Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband to come away with their biggest victory yet in the 15-year history of the competition.

The Philippines’ win, considered as one of the biggest upsets in Asean football, came on the heels of an impressive 1-1 draw with three-time champion Singapore.

“Beating Vietnam is just unbelievable,” said skipper Aly Borromeo, who anchored a backline that refused to budge despite the Vietnamese pressure. “We just kept on fighting for each other.”

The Filipinos now have four points from two matches and find themselves in an unlikely spot of needing just a draw against Myanmar on Wednesday to advance to the home-and-away semifinals.

“We stuck to the plan, which was to eliminate and diffuse the speed of Vietnam and scored on the counter-attack,” said team manager Dan Palami, who has been bankrolling the team since last year. “It’s a new era for Philippine football. I’m just happy we are making believers out of this team.”

Singapore, which beat Myanmar, 2-1, in the first game Sunday, is level with Philippines at four points, but trail the Filipinos, who have a better goal difference.

Vietnam, with just three points from two matches, is in danger of missing the semifinals.

A last-minute addition to the team, the 27-year-old Greatwich scored his second goal of the tournament with a diving header from Anton del Rosario’s cross in the 37th minute, before assisting on Younghusband’s goal in the second half.

Younghusband, who shrugged off the effects of food poisoning, put the outcome beyond doubt with his curling left-footed strike in the 79th minute after a sleek counter attack started by Roel Gener, who was inserted to the starting 11 for the injured Chiefy Caligdong.

 The Philippines’ Ian Araneta almost opened the scoring in the 19th minute when his shot bounced off the wrong side of the post after Younghusband’s corner kick.

The Filipinos put up a tough defensive wall against the fleet-footed Vietnamese, who just couldn’t find the breakthrough despite dominating possession for most of the match.

Neil Etheridge came up big with three saves, including what could have been the equalizing goal in the second half from substitute Trong Hoang, whose close-range strike bounced off the Fulham keeper’s chest.

Rob Gier joined forces with Borromeo, Ray Jonnson and Del Rosario in defense that refused to yield in the face of a relentless Vietnamese attack.

“It was pleasing we were able to withstand the pressure,” said the Philippines’ English coach Simon McMenemy. “It was a total team effort. We were able to deny them space in the middle of the pitch. I would be happy if we would be competitive and fortunately being competitive has given us four points here.”