16 August 2014

Adi keeps hopes alive

Saturday, August 16, 2014
BRUNEI withstood a dominant Vietnam side and came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw in Group B of the 5th Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy last night.
The two teams are still within reach of the semi-finals as the draw puts both teams on seven points from four games together with Malaysia, who will only play Singapore today.
Adi Said notched a brace for Brunei to bring his tally to a tournament-leading six goals, surpassing his five-goal tally from the previous edition two years ago.
Nguyen Phong Hong Duy and Hoang Thanh Tung got on the scoresheet for Vietnam at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
Vietnam got off to a quick start and almost found a breakthrough as early as the fourth minute.
Nguyen Van Toan got the ball around Brunei goalkeeper Azman Ilham Hj Md Noor before centreback Reduan Hj Petara made a crucial tackle to prevent the shot.
Vietnam broke the deadlock four minutes later after Van Toan picked out Phong Hong Duy, who drilled a left-footed shot from the right edge of the box through the legs of defender Md Asri Hj Sapar into the bottom right corner.
Brunei were struggling to maintain ball possession as their opponents read their passes well.
In contrast, Vietnam were patient and moved the ball fluidly, leading up to their next goal-scoring chance in the 29th minute.
Nguyen Tuan Ang chipped the ball over the Brunei backline for Van Toan to chase but Azman Ilham did well to rush out and collect the ball.
Brunei finally got their first shot on target via a freekick from 25 yards out in the 34th minute and it proved to be the equaliser.
Adi struck it well over the wall and despite Vietnam keeper Tran Minh Toan going the correct direction, the ball took a dip and bounced into the empty net.
Vietnam responded almost immediately with Van Toan making another run behind the defence but Azman Ilham did well again to get off his line to grab the ball.
Brunei threatened in the 38th minute after Tran fumbled a Mohd Asnawi Syazni Hj Aziz cross from the left but he managed to gather the ball despite Md Aminuddin Zakwan Md Tahir chasing it down.
Vietnam took only three minutes after the interval to get back in front after captain Nguyen Cong Phuong picked out Hoang in the middle to easily fire past Azman Ilham to bring the scores to 2-1.
The Sultanate brought on Abdul Azim Abdul Rashid, who scored two goals against Singapore on Wednesday, to provide more firepower in the 55th minute.
Vietnam continued to dominate and were looking more likely to score again.
In the 61st minute, Cong Phuong picked out Van Toan on the left but the latter’s shot took a crucial deflection to see it go wide off the left post.
They threatened again five minutes later through Pham Trum Tinh but he failed to find the target.
The defending champions only managed their second shot of the encounter in the 71st minute after Adi got the ball to substitute Md Zulkhairy Hady Razali inside the box but the latter fired at the wrong side of the net.
The hosts equalised after a good one-two by Adi and Abdul Azim, allowing the former to slot the ball past the Vietnamese custodian in the 75th minute.
Brunei were down to 10 men in the 86th minute after Mohammad Nur Azees Awang Ali received his second booking for a tackle on Phong Hong Duy.
Vietnam almost took advantage two minutes later but Van Toan could only see his shot in a one-on-one situation against Azman Ilham fly inches off the right post.

The Brunei Times

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