Group B of the 2022 AFF Championship played their first set of matches on Wednesday and as expected it was the favorites who managed to start off their campaign with a win. Malaysia squeezed themselves past host Myanmar 1-0, while Vietnam thrashed Laos 6-0 in Vientiane.
Taking on Myanmar at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, 2010 AFF Championship winners Malaysia utterly dominated their opposition, despite being deprived of their stars from Johor Darul Ta’zim following their refusal to send their players for national team duty outside of the designated window from FIFA.
With their key players effectively sidelined, head coach Kim Pan-gon assembled a patched-up squad consisted mainly of players from Terengganu FC and Selangor FC, and this new-look squad proved to be too much for Myanmar, who were slowly bouncing back from the disruption on their country’s footballing scene brought on by both the COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest.
Despite dominating proceedings, it took the Harimau Malaya 52 minutes to take the lead. Captain Safawi Rasid, freshly loaned out to Thai League 1 side Ratchaburi FC from JDT, found Terengganu ace Faisal Halim with an accurate pass, who then managed to beat Myanmar goalie Kyaw Zin Pyo with a well-timed shot.
Malaysia then almost blew their slender advantage in the 89th minute after Sharul Nazeem had inadvertantly handled the ball in the area, leaving the referee no choice but to award Myanmar with a penalty. Fortunately for the Harimau Malaya, goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi managed to deny Win Naing Tun’s spot-kick with a powerful save.
Meanwhile, at the New Laos National Stadium, 2018 winners Vietnam pay Laos a visit, with the latter having former Ligue 1 striker Billy Ketkeophomphone amongst their ranks.
However, despite their star reinforcement, Laos were still no match for Park Hang-seo’s Vietnam, playing in the South Korean’s final tournament as national team head coach.
Becamex Binh Duong talisman Nguyen Tien Linh opened the scoring in the 15th minute, before Hanoi FC’s very own Do Hung Dung made it 2-0 two minutes before half-time.
Topenland Binh Dinh’s Ho Tan Tai then tripled Vietnam’s lead in the 55th minute, before three minutes later another Hanoi star in Doan Van Hau made it 4-0 for the Golden Dragons. Laos were torn further apart in the 82nd minute after Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s Nguyen Van Toan made it 5-0, before the rout was completed in the first minute of injury time by another HAGL player in Vu Van Thanh.
Despite the huge win, Vietnam were made to worry after star winger Nguyen Quang Hai was hauled off with an injury in the 34th minute.
The successful demolition job meant that Vietnam assume early control of Group B, with Malaysia following them in 2nd place. Singapore, who didn’t play a game on Wednesday, sat 3rd, while both Myanmar and Laos were fourth and fifth respectively.