Vietnam breaks PH hopes for gold with late goals in SEA Games football semis

The Philippine men’s U-22 football team failed to reach the championship match after falling short to Vietnam in the final minutes of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games semifinals at Rajamangala Stadium on Dec. 15.

Vietnam struck twice late to shatter the Filipinos’ gold medal hopes, sealing a 2-0 result.

Both teams were locked in a scoreless draw for nearly the entire 90 minutes, with the Philippines fending off persistent attacks from Vietnam. 

However, all it took was one header for the Filipinos to lose their grip on the game.

Le Van Thuan broke the deadlock in the 88th minute, scoring the opening goal for Vietnam to  take the lead.

Despite the efforts of Filipino goalkeeper Gab Guimaraes, who denied several scoring attempts, Vietnam capitalized once more in the dying moments.

Just minutes after taking the lead, Vietnam struck again as Nguyen Thanh Nhan’s free kick rattled the post before finding the net in stoppage time to put the game away.

Team Philippines will face Malaysia in the bronze medal match on Dec. 18 after the latter fell to host Thailand in the other semifinal.