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SINGAPORE: He was hailed as the next big thing in Vietnamese football, but Le Cong Vinh failed to sparkle in the group stage of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008.
He was starved of possession for the three games in Thailand, he then failed to inspire his side in the first leg of the semi-final against defending champions Singapore in Hanoi last Wednesday.
In the return leg last night at the National Stadium, the 23-year-old striker hardly got a kick for much of the game as Singapore dominated possession to put Vietnam on the back foot.
But in the 75th min, Vinh announced his arrival on Asean football’s biggest stage when he turned on the afterburners to run at the Singapore defence, out-pace right-back Ismail Yunos before calmly crossing for an unmarked Nguyen Quang Hai to tap the ball into an empty net, and send Vietnam into the final.
The sizeable group of Vietnamese fans among the huge turnout of 48, 411 fans at the National Stadium broke into song and dance as their favourites posted a 1-0 win and booked a date with Thailand in the two-leg final.
The first game will be held in Bangkok on Wednesday, with the return clash in Hanoi next Sunday.
The record books will name Hai as the goalscorer last night, but few will argue that the goal belonged to Vinh.
“Today Singapore played very well, but I’m just so happy that I contributed a small part to the team,” he said, after the game.
“This is a very happy moment in my football career.”
Vietnam coach Henrique Calisto, who was pilloried by critics back home before the tournament, was over the moon.
“Singapore had no luck, if they had scored one goal, the story of the game would have been totally different,” he said.
“But I think Vietnam deserved to win. We played well in both legs.
“We were a little lucky of course, but you can’t be champions or winners without luck.”
Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic, who had guided the team to back-to-back titles, was left to rue the missed chances.
Said the Serb: “This is one of the best games we played in the tournament. We created enough chances to win this game, but Vietnam scored from a counter-attack and we lost.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose and I can’t complain about the performance of any of my players — they were all ready to die on the pitch.”
Despite the result, Avramovic believes the future remains bright for the Lions.
“If we had some of the players who were missing available before thecompetition started, we could have won this competition very easily,” the 59-year-old said.
“This team were formed three years ago and can play for three more years.
“All we need to do is concentrate more and add the finishing touches to moves.
“We have a good team.” - TODAY/sh
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