“Even though we played well in the first half, we lost our shape in the second and that gave Laos acres of space,” coach Dinh Hong Vinh was quoted on the AFF website as saying after the match.

“Obviously we have to work on the team’s tactical discipline over these next two days (before the clash with Thailand in the semi-finals),” Mr Vinh added.

As Vietnam had made made it to the last four, Mr Vinh decided to rest key players for forthcoming semi-final clash.

Laos, by contrast, lined up their strongest squad for the match, knowing that a draw was enough for them to advance.

The Laotians had the first opportunity of the match with Kita Souksabai testing Vietnam keeper Ho Ngoc Thien after ten minutes with a swerving free kick, but only to see the ball parried out.

The Vietnamese side took a lead five minutes later when Nguyen Dinh Loi’s free kick was perfectly finished off by Hoang Van Nhuan.

Laos came close to drawing level on 25 minutes with Kita seeing his attempt being thwarted by recovering defender Nguyen Minh Tung.

Five minutes before half-time Sopha Saysana broke through the Vietnam defence only to see his shot being blocked.

Laos equalised one minute before half-time with Sopha firing in from inside the Vietnam box.

Seventeen minutes into the second half, Phettikone Pangnasith took advantage of a rebound to slam home to give Laos the lead for the first time.

Khouanta Sivongthong extended Laos’ advantage three minutes later by scoring from a cross from Sopha.

Vietnam fought back and scored their second goal with header from Nguyen Minh Tung two minutes from time.

However, Laos completed their control of the second half with a neat one-two with Tam Phimmasone before Kita blasted home from close range.

Losing the match, Vietnam will play Thailand, who topped Group A in the semi-finals on August 30 while Laos, as winners of Group B will play Indonesia.

The first ASEAN U-17 football championship was held in 2005 in Thailand, with Burma being the winner, and the second in 2006 in Vietnam, with Vietnam the winner.

Source: Xinhua