Football
ESPN staff 9y

Malaysia earn Suzuki Cup final spot after stunning Vietnam

2010 champions Malaysia turned the form book on its head to advance to the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup with a stunning 4-2 away victory that set up a 5-4 aggregate win against tournament co-hosts Vietnam in the semifinals.

The Malaysians will face three-time winners Thailand in the two-legged final on Dec. 17 and 20 after one of the biggest Southeast Asian upsets in recent memory.

Dollah Salleh's side scored four times in the first half against the heavily favoured 2008 champions who were playing before a packed house in Hanoi.

Vietnam had the advantage of two away goals going into the second leg at the My Dinh Stadium, having won 2-1 at Shah Alam last Sunday. But they were wary of the unpredictable Malaysians who defied predictions by upsetting the other host nation, Singapore, in their final group match to qualify for the knockout stages.

Toshiya Miura's side, the Group A winners, went into the game with an unbeaten record in the 2014 tournament, with three wins and one draw.

But within five minutes, the Suzuki Cup favourites found themselves behind. After Indra Putra Mahayuddin broke clear in the box, he was hacked down by Ngoc Hai Que, who was shown a yellow card. Captain Safiq Rahim converted the spot kick after it was re-taken after encroachment on the first attempt.

Vietnam then dominated possession and had some half chances. But Malaysia grabbed the second goal in the 16th minute against the run of play. Amri Yahyah's long pass created confusion in the defence. Goalkeeper Nguyen Manh Tran found himself in no man's land at the edge of the box and Norshahrul Talaha tapped the ball in the net for 2-0.

Le Cong Vinh pulled a goal back for Vietnam from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute after shirt pulling by Amri Yahyah in the area by Malaysia from a corner.

But just six minutes later, Malaysia restored their two-goal buffer after a comical own goal. An innocuous looking cross from Indra Putra Mahayuddin deflected off defender Tien Thanh Dinh and past Nguyen Manh Tran to give Malaysia a 3-1 lead after 29 minutes.

Again, Vietnam applied the pressure and looked set to reduce the deficit. But Harimau Malaya shocked the home fans by scoring a fourth goal before halftime.

From the Safiq Rahim corner and resulting penalty box scramble, Mohamed Shukor Adan poked the ball home for a stunning 4-1 lead -- 5-3 on aggregate. It meant that the home nation needed to score a minimum of three goals to have any chance of advancing to the final.

It proved to be beyond them. The second half was less open with far fewer clear cut chances. As the minutes ticked by, the My Dinh Stadium crowd realised that the task was too difficult for their heroes in the red shirts.

They did pull one back in the 78th minute when a defensive mix-up between Mohamed Shukor Adan and S Kunalan opened the door for Le Cong Vinh to collect his second goal. It made it 4-2 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.

In the Suzuki Cup final, Malaysia will have the advantage of being at home for the second leg on Dec. 20. The first leg will be played on Dec. 17 at Thailand's Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.

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