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