Defending champions Vietnam asserted its mastery over Myanmar 3-0 Wednesday night to top Group B of the AFF Women’s Championship 2022 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Vietnamese closed out the group stages with their fourth straight win in a row, good for 12 points, without conceding a single goal while dealing their cross country rivals their first loss in four games to slide down into second place with nine points.
The charges of coach Mai Duc Chung take on the Filipinas, Group B runners-up, while Myanmar faces Group A topnotcher Thailand in the crossover semifinals on Friday.
At the post-match conference, coach Mai showed no visible signs of worry in facing the hosts, although he was concerned over the short one-day break before going back to the pitch.
“There will also be the hometown crowd rallying behind the Philippines but we are prepared for any eventuality,” he said.
The Vietnamese wasted no time in putting their rivals on their heels as midfielder Nguyen Thi Thuyet Dung had a brace with a 15-yard volley from the right fringe of the box in the 16th minute plus a penalty kick 19 minutes later after being tackled from behind in the penalty area.
Skipper Huynh Nhu added the third marker on a breakaway in the 46th minute in giving the Vietnamese a 3-0 halftime lead.
Egged on by a small group of animated fans, they could not make any headway in the second half until striker Pham Hai Yen scored a header in the 89th minute in putting an exclamation point to the match.
Over at the Imus Stadium in Cavite, Cambodia subdued Timor Leste 3-1 for its first win in salvaging third place with four points counting its two draws and an earlier defeat.
Although it also had four points, Laos slid to fourth place due to Cambodia’s slightly better goal difference of minus-4 to the former’s minus-5. Timor finished dead last in absorbing its fourth consecutive defeat.
