Indonesia loses to Vietnam

The Jakarta Post Hanoi

Ten-man Indonesia went down to Vietnam 1-0 on Thursday leaving it with mounting task in its last match in Group A against defending champion Thailand.

The only scorer in the game at the My Dinh Stadium was Phan Thanh Binh in the 34th minute. Earlier, Thailand routed Laos 6-0.

Thailand and Vietnam have collected four points each with the former heading at the top thanks to its better goal difference.

Indonesia, which could only win 1-0 over Laos in the opening match, is in third with three points. It will be a do-or-die match for Indonesia against Vietnam on Sunday.

On Thursday, Indonesia had to play with ten men almsot throughout the second half after Edu Juanda was shown a red card for his foul on Phan Van Quyen in the 55th minute by referee Lee Young-chun of South Korea.

Indonesian coach Serghei Dubrovin was too disappointed by the result that he staved off reporters questions after the match.

Assistant coach Mundary Karya gave the conferrence. He said that the team was disappointed by "bad refereeing", which affetced the players' performance.

"The players were disappointed by the refereeing which they say went against them. They players became out of wits and team game was affected," Mundary said.

Mundary rued the goal, saying that the players should not have fallen to a let-up. The Indonesian's defenders distracted by the ball, leaving Thanh Binh unnoticed inside the penalty box to head home a cross.

"The team played better in the second half. Unfortunately, the red card spoilt the game," Mundary said.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese coach Alfred Riedl said he was satisfied with his players' performance.

In Group B, which is being played in Ho Chi Minh City, Malaysia and Myanmar qualified for the next stage after collecting six points each from two wins. Singapore and Cambodia were eliminated.