When the Philippine Azkals went on the offensive, they lost control of the game.
Azkals’ coach Sven Goran-Eriksson said this after the Philippines suffered a 1-2 setback to Vietnam in the second leg of the semifinals of the 2018 ASEAN Football Federation-Suzuki Cup Thursday at the My Dunh Stadium in Hanoi.
“We stood up to them very well, until we started to change formation a little bit, trying to play more offensively and putting more offensive players on the pitch because we wanted to score some goals. Then we were punished in the counterattacks,” said Eriksson.
With the loss, Vietnam will play Malaysia in the finals.
Late goals from Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Cong Phuong helped secure Vietnam the win as it advanced to the finals with 4-2 on aggregate.
Quang Hai opened the scoring in the 83rd minute, before substitute Cong Phuong ended the Philippines’ hopes four minutes later.
James Younghusband scored a consolation goal for the Philippines in the final minute.
Vietnam got the crowd off their seats in the 28th minute when Doan Van Hau curled in a neat ball with the outside of his left foot that Quang Hai directed straight at goalkeeper Patrick Deyto.