Both Vietnam and hosts Indonesia failed to score in their semifinal’s first leg at the 2022 AFF Championship in Central Jakarta on Friday evening and now wait for their rematch next Monday in order to decide who will make it to the final.
The boring goalless showdown extended Vietnam’s unbeaten streak at the tournament to five consecutive games, but also marked the 2008 and 2018 winners’ second blank game, after a similar 0-0 draw against Singapore in the group phase.
Vietnam had a tough game while Indonesia could not utilize their home advantage.
After the first ten tepid minutes when the ball was mainly kept in the midfield, Indonesia had more attacks than Vietnam and put the visitors under immense pressure through to the half-time mark.
Had it not been for Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Van Lam’s excellence, Indonesia might have got the opening goal.
However, the hosts failed to convert their relevant chances.
Vietnam’s possession of 56 percent resulted in nothing but four goalless finishes.
The inclusion of Nguyen Hoang Duc, Nguyen Quang Hai, and Nguyen Tien Linh also turned out to be ineffective as all of these goal hopefuls made various mistakes.
While a more compelling second half was highly anticipated, both teams disappointed fans with even fewer dangerous opportunities and a prolonged stalemate.
Indonesia went all out to seek a goal in the last added minutes, but Vietnam and particularly keeper Van Lam stayed focused.
The two sides accepted a 0-0 draw and are going to play the second leg at Vietnam’s My Dinh National Stadium in three days.
The other semifinal pair, Thailand and Malaysia, are set to compete in their first leg on Saturday evening in Kuala Lumpur before a rematch on Tuesday evening.
The final will be then held on a home-and-away basis on January 13 and 16.
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