Big win for Malaysia

Thamil Arasu (right) in action in the against Timor Leste di Ho Chi Minh City, Thursday. Malaysia won 7-1. (Picture from U-19 Web-site)


Thamil Arasu Ambumanee netted five goals as Malaysia defeated Timor Leste 7-1 im a day which saw host Vietnam defeat Myanmar to secure their place in the semi-finals of the AFF Under-19 Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Thursday.

Both the venus saw top class action. A total of 18 goals were recorded on the score sheets which also saw six red cards being listed.

While Vietnam are comfortably through, Malaysia and Myanmar will have to battle it out for the other spot in Group B on Saturday.

In Group A, Thailand, Australia and Singapore all picked up points to remain on the run for the two semi-final slots.

At the Thanh Long Sports Complex this afternoon, striker Thamil Arasu Ambumanee was the toast of the Malaysian side when he blasted five goals – two of them from the spot – as his team whipped 8-man Timor Leste 7-1.

Thamil scored in the 18th (pen), 33rd, 73rd(pen), 84th and 87th minutes. Malaysia’s other goals came from Mohamad Fandi Othman(24th) and Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shas (82nd).

Timor Leste meanwhile lost their first player in the 70th minute when goalkeeper Ramos Saozinho Ribeiro was sacked for punching a floored Thamil Arasu in the box.

Six minutes later, Lamberto Gama picked up a second booking and was sent off by referee Allan Martinez.

Timor were dealt a nasty blow when Jose Carlos Fonseca picked a bad leg injury in the 76th minute and could not continue playing.

Timor had by then used up all their substitutions which meant that they were down to only eight players for the last 14 minutes of the game.

In the other match at this venue, Singapore battled back from a goal down in the 17th minute from Prak Mony Udom to seal a crucial 3-1 win over Cambodia.

At the Thong Nhat Stadium, Myanmar have to blame themselves for their 3-1 loss to Vietnam. Four of their players were sent off and they completed the match with only 7 players on the pitch.

FIXTURES and RESULTS

4 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
AUSTRALIA 1 SINGAPORE 1/ MYANMAR 3 TIMOR LESTE 0
Thong Nhat Stadium –
CAMBODIA 0 THAILAND 3/ MALAYSIA 0 VIETNAM 2
6 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
TIMOR LESTE 1 MALAYSIA 7/ SINGAPORE 3 CAMBODIA 1
Thong Nhat Stadium –
THAILAND 1 AUSTRALIA 1/ VIETNAM 3 MYANMAR 1
8 August 2009
Thanh Long Centre –
Cambodia vs Australia (1530)/ Malaysia vs Myanmar (1745)
Thong Nhat Stadium –
Thailand vs Singapore (1530)/ Vietnam vs Timor Leste (1745)
10 August 2009
Thong Nhat Stadium –
Semi-finals 1 - Winner A vs Runner up B (1515)
Semi-finals 2 - Winner B vs Runner up A (1745)
12 August 2009
Thong Nhat Stadium –
3rd / 4th Placing - Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 (1530)
Final - Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (1745)