Oceanshaft

Pretty tired right now, so I'll just post up some football news below. The link to the article is here if you need it. So the semi-finalists for the Tiger Cup/Asean championships are Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Hardly know any of the Singaporean players now...

On another note, they've shown the Thierry Henry goal against Liverpool on Japanese television quite a few times now - the one where he passes the ball into open space on the left and then runs to get it himself, beating a defender near the sideline, dribbles it back into the box and then scores with a deceptively slow ball. Yah, if only I can run like that...

Edit: found a video of that goal in case you don't get my poor description.

Football: Singapore, Vietnam advance into Asean championship semi-finals
Posted: 17 January 2007 2347 hrs

Football: Thailand, Malaysia qualify for Asean championship semi-finals

SINGAPORE : Vietnam sensationally leap-frogged Indonesia into the Asean football championship semi-finals on Wednesday thanks to a 9-0 pummelling of Laos.

The Vietnamese were third in Group B after two draws in their opening games, but join Singapore in the last four on goal difference after the defending champions held Indonesia 2-2.

Singapore will play Malaysia in the two-legged semi-finals starting on January 23, while Vietnam face regional powerhouse Thailand.

But the result spells heartache for Indonesia, who miss the semis for the first time despite not losing a match and with the group's top three teams all finishing on five points.

It may also mean the end of Indonesian coach Peter Withe, who was told he must win the tournament to keep his job.

Vietnam started their goal blitz early, with Le Cong Vinh getting the first of his hat-trick before a minute had passed.

Phan Thanh Binh got four and Ngueyn Van Bien added another two, while Le Cong Vinh passed up the chance to hit double figures by missing a penalty on 56 minutes.

Hapless Laos leave with a lamentable goal difference of minus-22 in three games, their sole strike coming in the 3-1 loss to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Indonesia twice came from behind against Singapore but could not find the winning strike in the tense 2-2 draw at National Stadium.

Noh Alam Shah put Singapore ahead with a 10th-minute penalty before Ilham Jaya Kusuma levelled for the visitors.

Indra Sahdan restored Singapore's lead shortly after half-time only for Indonesia's Zaenal Arif to hit back minutes later.

Singapore 'keeper Lionel Lewis made an excellent save from Ponaryo Astaman in the dying moments that kept their title defence on track.

The championships, being played in Bangkok and Singapore, were formerly known as the Tiger Cup. - AFP/de