Philippines secured their slot in the semis of the AFF Suzuki Cup after romping to a 4-0 rout of Indonesia in the Group A action earlier today.
The Azkals came into the match on the back of their 4-1 victory over Laos last weekend, and needed three points to secure qualification, but what followed up in the match, was nothing but a sensational performance from Thomas Dooley’s men.
Philippines started the match on a very bright note, testing the Indonesian defence several times, before finally breaking the deadlock through Phil Younghusband’s spot kick, after Bahadoran was brought down inside the box.
But the rest of the first half, didn’t really go too well for them, with Guirado coming off with an injury, before they almost conceded an own goal just for the break, though their goalie pulled off a stunning save to preserve the slender lead.
After the break, Philippines fired on all cylinders, and doubled their lead on the 52nd minute mark, courtesy of a stunning strike from Ott. The third goal eventually arrived on the 67th minute as Stueble capitalized on bad defending from the Indonesian defence to fire a free kick into the back of the net.
Indonesia were reduced to 10 men on the 73rd minute, after Rizki Pora was given a straight red card for obstructing Younghusband, despite being the last man. And just three minutes later, the Azkals heaped more misery on them, adding a fourth goal to secure a terrific win.
Meanwhile, Vietnam also increased their chances of making it to the semis, with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Laos. Minh Tuan scored for the hosts halfway through the first half, which arrived deservingly as well, considering that they were the more dominant side in the game.
But despite their best attempts at increasing the lead before half time, the game remained 1-0, though Laos could not much to stop the Vietnamese onslaught after the break.
10 minutes before the game ended, the explosive Le Cong Vinh made it 2-0 with a typical striker’s finish, before Nguyen Huy Hung scored another just two minutes later to make it 3-0. The victory means that Vietnam are now on 4 points, two behind the already qualified Philippines, and three ahead of Indonesia.
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