U22 Vietnam returned home early after seeing Malaysia top the table.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and the U22 Vietnam players went directly to the stadium to watch U22 Malaysia defeat Laos with a score of 4-1 in Group B of the 33rd SEA Games on the afternoon of December 6.

Normally, the training sessions of U22 Vietnam (and other teams) take place in the afternoon. Teams only practice in the morning in a few special cases. On December 6, Coach Kim Sang-sik proactively let U22 Vietnam practice in the morning, so that in the afternoon the whole team has time to go to the stadium to watch the match of U22 Malaysia live.

Coach Kim rearranged the training schedule so that U22 Vietnam could directly go to "watch" their opponent Malaysia. Photo: Minh Chien.

Malaysia is considered to be a direct rival for the top spot of the group of U22 Vietnam. Therefore, Mr. Kim paid them special attention. The entire U22 team, including the coaching staff and players, arrived at the stadium early and watched almost the entire match.

Nearing the 90th minute, when the score was 4-1 for U22 Malaysia, Khuat Van Khang and his teammates stood up. The team returned home a few minutes before the final whistle. In the remaining time, no more goals were scored.

Thanks to being at the field directly, U22 Vietnam witnessed many "faces" of their opponent Malaysia. They were 1 goal behind Laos and struggled in the first half, but exploded with 4 goals after that. In the end, Malaysia won 4-1. U22 Vietnam and Malaysia both had 3 points but the other team ranked higher due to a better goal difference (+3 compared to +1).

U22 Vietnam left the field a few minutes early when the match result was decided. Photo: Minh Chien.

Sharing with the press after the match, coach Ha Hyeok-jun of U22 Laos said: “Looking at the score, it seems that Malaysia is stronger than Vietnam. But we need to look at other things. When we met Malaysia, we had just met Vietnam 3 days ago. So judging based on the score will not be accurate. To know who is stronger, we need to wait for the two teams to face each other. It will be an interesting match.”

The match that will decide the top spot between U22 Vietnam and Malaysia will take place at 4pm on December 11 at Rajamangala Stadium. The winning team will go straight to the finals while the losing team will have to wait for the opportunity to continue as the second-placed team with the best record.

SEA Games 33 Group B rankings after December 6. Photo: Forza Football.

The victory helped U22 Malaysia surpass Vietnam at the SEA Games. On the afternoon of December 6, U22 Malaysia let Laos open the score but still won 4-1 in the group stage of men's football at the 33rd SEA Games.

Source: https://znews.vn/u22-viet-nam-ve-som-sau-khi-nhin-malaysia-len-dau-bang-post1609046.html