Vietnam entered the bronze-medal clash against Myanmar with strong determination for a win, aiming to reclaim the trust from home fans, which had fallen sharply following their incredible 1-5 defeat to Malaysia in the semifinals earlier.
The Miguel Rodrigo side proactively deployed their offences right from the kick-off and spurned a number of opportunities to score.
After 10 minutes, Phung Trong Luan put the host team in front with skilful ball handling and finish in the box.
Luan’s opener enabled Vietnam to play with great enthusiasm in the remainder of the first half; however, the wastefulness of opportunities prevented them from scoring any additional goals before the break.
Vietnam (in white) experience a disappointing tournament this year. Vietnam continued to take control of the match after half-time, while on the opposite side, Myanmar were still faithful with the counterattack strategy, which caused many difficulties for the home side in finding the net.
It was not until the 26th minute that the advantage was doubled for Vietnam, with Danh Phat patiently beating the Myanmar goalkeeper in a faceoff.
As it seemed to be an easy win for Rodrigo’s team, K.S.Moe ignited Myanmar’s resurgence hopes by reducing the gap 1-2 with a decisive shot seven minutes later.
Three minutes from the goal, the match was brought back to the starting line, as N.M.Sof made good use of an opportunities to equalise the score 2-2, forcing the match to be decided in a penalty shootout.
Under strong pressure from losing the two-goal lead within only three minutes, Vietnam lost 3-4 overall on the penalty spot, thus gifting the bronze medal to the Myanmar team.
This is a sad result for Vietnamese futsal fans as previously in the group stage, Vietnam had trounced Myanmar with three straight goals to claim the Group A’s top position.
Later on the same day, Thailand successfully defended their championship title after fighting back to beat Malaysia with a score of 4-3 in the final match./.