Vietnam juniors handed Malaysia a 4-0 football lesson in their opening Group A match in the ASEAN U-17 Boys Football Championships at the Gelora Joko Samudro in Gresik, Indonesia.
Indonesia started their campaign by defeating Timor Leste by the same 4-0 margin.
Le Sy Bach starred for the Vietnamese with a brace. He opened accounts for Vietnam in the 11th minute and doubled it up in the 27th minute.
Nguyen Van Duong fired in their third goal in the 38th minute past Malaysian goalkeeper Aiman Khaufly to give Vietnam a 3-0 half-time lead.
Vietnam found the net again in the 56th minute through Nguyen Manh Cuong to end a miserable outing for the rivals.
The victory puts the three-time champion in the driver’s seat to qualify for the semi-finals from the Group of Death that also includes hosts Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Vietnam, who were champions in 2006, 2010 and 2017, had qualified for the semi-finals at each of the last three editions
For Malaysia, who last won the title in 2019, are staring at another group stage exit, unless they can beat both Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Having failed to get past the group stages in 2022 and 2024, Malaysia’s hope of qualifying for the semi-finals is likely to rely on them finishing as the best third placed team from the three groups.
Ironically, Malaysia also failed to qualify for the Under-17 Asian Cup after suffering a 4-0 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group C match last November. Van Duong was one of the goalscorers in that match too.
Meanwhile, Putu Ekayana scored two early goals for Indonesia in the sixth and 17th minutes.
The scored two more goals in the first half through Ridho (36th) and Dava Yunna in the 41st minute.
