His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council at the match. PHOTO: INFOFOTO
Brunei Darussalam’s under-22 football team’s opening Group ‘B’ fixture at the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games was met with familiarity after a 6-0 defeat to Vietnam at the Binan Football Stadium in Binan, Laguna yesterday.
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council watched the match.
The Young Wasps have met Vietnam four times in the last five editions of the biennial event, with three of those meetings coming in the opening day.
The two ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) member associations had locked horns in a competitive fixture at the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers in March this year.
Early on, Vietnam defender Huynh Tan Sinh tested Brunei’s goalkeeper Ishyra Asmin Jabidi with a low free-kick but the latter managed to get strong hands to parry the ball away.
The Young Golden Dragons found the opener as striker Ha Duc Chinh headed home a decent cross in the 10th minute.
The SHB Da Nang attacker netted his second of the game with a crisp finish after latching a cutback from Do Thanh Thinh.
Ha Duc nodded home from a Nguyen Hoang Duc’s corner to complete his hat-trick with three minutes of the second half lapsed.
Nguyen Trong Hoang, one of two overaged players in the squad, showed flashes of brilliance with a beautiful lob for Nguyen Trong Hung who squared the ball for Trieu Viet Hung.
The central midfielder perfectly placed his shot on the bottom corner for the fourth goal of the game. He had another opportunity to double his goal tally but his shot rattled the crossbar after leaving his marker for dead.
Nguyen Thanh Chung added his name on the scoresheet when he powered home a fierce header on the hour mark as the source of their end product originated from a set-piece.
Vietnam midfielder Nguyen Trong Hung skipped past his marker before completing the move with a cool finish six minutes from time.
Brunei will continue their campaign against reigning holders Thailand at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on November 28.
