Vietnam gain revenge as Thailand's soccer women crash out

The result spoiled the party mood in the camp after their male counterparts had cruised to the quarter-finals with a convincing 2-0 win over China the day before.

The loss also cost the Thai women at least Bt12 million in bonuses, pledged by sponsors including Lohtong Holding and Muang Thai Insurance.

Against familiar opponents, the Thais had every reason to feel confident of extending their run at the Games, having beaten Vietnam in their last two meetings. The Thais edged their regional rivals 2-1 to win the SEA Games title last year, then rubbed salt into the wound at the Asian Championship where they beat Vietnam to clinch fifth spot and a historic maiden berth at next year’s Women’s World Cup finals in Canada.

However, nothing had separated the two sides in their previous 19 meetings, which had seen them share an identical record of seven wins, seven losses and five draws.

With revenge no doubt on the agenda for the Vietnamese at Goyang Stadium, the Thais had more cause to be wary of their neighbours, who, like them, qualified for the quarter-finals as group runners-up.

The sight of Kanjana Sungngeon leading Thailand’s attack offered a reminder of Vietnam’s bitter loss at the Asian Championship in May, when the Thai captain scored in the 2-1 success that sealed the World Cup ticket.

Perhaps wary of Thai firepower, Vietnam opted to allow the Thais the majority of possession, sitting deep in their own half and leaving little space for their opponents to exploit in the final third of the pitch. That strategy resulted in a scrappy affair in the opening half, with clear-cut chances at a premium. 

With rain falling more heavily as the game wore on, leaving parts of the field waterlogged, the Thais’ task of finding a way through Vietnam’s massed defence became steadily more difficult.

Just five minutes after the restart, in-form forward Nisa Romyen put a poor first-half performance behind her when she out-sprinted the Vietnamese defence to get to collect a searching ball from midfield and stroke it past the goalie into the net.

It was Nisa’s eighth goal of the tournament, putting her top of scoring charts ahead of South Korea’s Yoo Younga, whose side were due to take on Taiwan later yesterday.   

Nisa led her team-mates in a “Gangnam style” celebration dance, but the Thais’ joy was short-lived. Just moments later the Vietnamese levelled the score after Nguyen Thi Lieu’s left-foot long-range strike squirmed under the diving Thai keeper.

The Thais’ situation went from bad to worse when they missed a penalty then saw Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung’s effort put Vietnam 2-1 up.

Seeking an equaliser, the Thai side reshuffled the frontline, but it came to no avail.