Malaysia’s players (in yellow) celebrate their victory against Vietnam after the second leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 semi-final match at My Dinh stadium in Hanoi. — Reuters photo
HANOI: Malaysia booked a spot in the AFF Suzuki Cup final against Thailand after ripping through a porous Vietnam backline to claim an upset 4-2 second-leg win last night.
The 5-4 aggregate victory for the 2010 champions came courtesy of a four-goal first-half burst, and they will travel to Bangkok for the first leg of the final on Wednesday confident of avenging a 3-2 group stage defeat by the Thais.
“I’m surprised that Vietnam, especially in defence, made so many mistakes,” Malaysian coach Dollah Salleh told reporters.
“I hope the performance tonight we can carry to the final.”
The hosts, heavily tipped to reach a third final, were 2-0 down in Hanoi within 16 minutes after slapdash defending from the same line-up that had performed so well in earning a 2-1 win in the first leg of the semi on Sunday.
Malaysia recalled veteran forward Indra Putra Mahayuddin for the second leg and he immediately made an impact by earning a penalty in the second minute after being felled by a clumsy challenge.
Skipper Safiq Rahim stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way at the second attempt after the Japanese official demanded a retake following a successful first effort.
The early goal left the full house at the My Dinh National Stadium in silence, with their mood not helped by Norshahrul Idlan Talaha nipping in between an indecisive goalkeeper and defenders to loft home a second in the 16th minute.
The shaky hosts were gifted a way back when Masaaki Toma awarded them a penalty following a scuffle at a corner. Skipper Le Cong Vinh confidently scoring the spot-kick in the 22nd minute to level the tie at 3-3 on aggregate.
Lofted balls though the middle continued to cause problems and one of them set Indra free down the left and his cross was deflected in off the thigh of centre back Dinh Tien Thanh in the 29th minute to make it 3-1 on the night to the 2010 winners.
The visitors, who scrapped into the knockout stages of the biennial Southeast Asian championships, made it four two minutes before halftime when defender Shukor Adnan headed in off the post at a corner.
Vietnam, who won the title in 2008, went with three up front in the second half and Le Cong Veh bagged a second with 11 minutes to go after capitalising on a Malaysia slip in defence but the hosts ultimately fell short.
“We played a terrible game so I must take responsibility,” Vietnam’s Japanese coach Toshiya Miura said. — Reuters