Indonesia reaches Tiger Cup semis, S'pore set to follow

Indonesia reaches Tiger Cup semis, S'pore set to follow

Agence France-Presse, Hanoi

Indonesia booked a place in the semifinals of the Tiger Cup
with an easy 8-0 win over Cambodia in Hanoi Monday, while
Singapore looked set to follow suit with a 6-2 victory over Laos.

With three victories out of four games and yet to concede a
goal, Indonesia moves into the next phase with confidence running
high.

Singapore has five points -- one ahead of tournament co-hosts
Vietnam -- and should qualify on Wednesday provided it secures an
expected win against Cambodia, which has lost all three games so
far.

Vietnam, which lost 3-0 defeat to Indonesia on Saturday, has
to hope Singapore slips up against Cambodia while they beat Laos
if they are to enter the next phase instead.

The two strongest teams in group A were taking on the weakest
defenses and the only suspense was how many goals they would each
score here at the My Dinh Stadium.

Indonesia brushed aside Cambodia with embarrassing ease even
though the minnows put 11 men behind the ball to try and avoid
another humiliating defeat after their 9-1 mauling by Vietnam
last Thursday.

Ilham Jaya Kusuma, Elie Aiboy and Kurniawan Yulianto scored
seven of the eight goals between them.

Ilham hit a hat-trick, opening the scoring in the 5th minute
then notching again in the 48th and 56th minutes.

But he turned from hero to villain when he received a red card
during injury, ruling him out of the semifinal.

Earlier in the night, Singapore easily beat Laos 6-2.

Hasrin Jailani opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a
powerful shot from 20 meters. Indra Sahdan doubled the advantage
in the 19th minute, his free-kick finding the net after going
through the wall.

Laos, urged on by a crowd devoted to its cause, refused to
give up and reduced the deficit two minutes later, when
Chandalaphone Leupvisay collected a loose ball after a free-kick
and scored on 21 minutes.

Singapore reimposed themselves before the break through a
Sengphet Thongpachan own goal in the 41st minute and an Agu
Casmir strike on the stroke of half-time.

The game lost its intensity in the second half as Singapore
focused on securing the win without risking any injuries.

Laos' penalty specialist Chalana Luang-Amath pulled one back
for Laos with a penalty in the 72nd minute.

But the ordeal was not over yet for Laos, who leaked six goals
last week against Indonesia. Immediately after the restart Indra
Sahdan scored his second and in the last minute of the game Agu
Casmir wrapped up the win with a late penalty (90).

In Kuala Lumpur, Myanmar all but booked a place in the
semifinals after pulling off a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Malaysia
on Sunday, while Group B rivals Thailand kept its hopes alive
with an 8-0 thumping of minnows Timor Leste 8-0.

Myanmar is top of the standings with 7 points from three
matches and only has to beat Timor Leste -- goalless in the
tournament so far -- on Dec. 16 to assure themselves of a last
four berth in Southeast Asia's premier international tournament.

After the loss at the National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia is left looking for nothing less than a win over
Thailand in their last match to guarantee a semifinal spot.

Tiger Cup standings

Group A (Hanoi)
Indonesia 4 3 1 0 17 0 10
Singapore 3 1 2 0 7 3 5
Vietnam 3 1 1 1 10 5 4
Laos 3 1 0 2 4 13 3
Cambodia 3 0 0 3 2 19 0

Group B (Kuala Lumpur)
Myanmar 3 2 1 0 3 1 7
Malaysia 3 2 0 1 9 2 6
Thailand 2 1 1 0 9 1 4
Philippines 2 0 0 2 1 5 0
Timor Leste 2 0 0 2 0 13 0