Indonesia continued their stunning march to the final with a 2-2 draw in Vietnam. Thailand thumped Myanmar 4-0 to give the pre-tournament favorites a chance at a record fifth title. The War Elephants had one foot in the final after defeating Myanmar in the semi final first leg in Yangon.
Indonesia had a much tougher time against the Vietnamese, who were looking to overturn a 2-1 defeat from the first leg. The Indonesians though managed to hold out for a spectacular 2-2 draw to see them through to their first final since a defeat to the Malaysians in 2010.
Stunning Indonesia continue their dream
Indonesia will meet the War Elephants of Thailand in the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup after making a remarkable comeback against Vietnam in Hanoi. The Vietnamese started off at a very high tempo and pressed Indonesia relentlessly. The Vietnamese were the dominant side throughout but Indonesia opened the scoring against the run of play when Stefano Lilipaly scored in the 54th minute.
The goal was calamitous as Ding Dong made a clearance against the post and the ball bounced to Lilipaly to give Vietnam the worse start to the second half. The game was outstanding with high drama seeing the Vietnamese goalkeeper sent of for a foul on Solossa in the 77th minute.
Constant pressure from the Vietnamese saw them equalize in the 83rd minute through Vu Van Danh and then Minh Danh sent Vietnam wild when he scored a brilliant solo goal in the 94th minute. The replacement goalkeeper Ngoc Hai added more drama when in the 96th minute he gave away a penalty for a trip on Beny Wahyudi. The penalty was converted by Manahati Lestusen and Indonesia march on.
War Elephants make it look easy
Thailand scored 3 goals in a fine second half display which saw them dominate the game. Myanmar started off very well but lost steam when Sarawut Masuk scored a diving header in the 33rd minute. The goal was his third of the tournament.
After the start of the second half Myanmar went close with a wonder strike from Than Paing but it cannoned off the crossbar.
A penalty in the 65th minute ended any hopes for Myanmar. Theerathon Bunmatthan scored the penalty and this was followed by 2 quick goals from Siroch Chatting(75) and Chanathip Songkrasin(83).
A 6-0 aggregrate score for the War Elephants who will meet a bigger challenge in the final on the 14th December with the first leg in Indonesia.
The return leg will be played on the 17th in Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium.
