HANOI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam defeated Malaysia 1-0 in the second leg of finals here on Saturday, bringing the total score to 3-2, winning the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship for the second time after the first time in 2008.
Six minutes into the final match at the 40,000-seat My Dinh National Stadium in Vietnam's Hanoi capital, Nguyen Anh Duc, a 33-year-old Vietnamese striker, scored the opening goal with his left leg after latching onto a quick pass from his teammate Nguyen Quang Hai outside the penalty area.
Malaysian footballers frequently launched rapid attacks to equalize the score, but their efforts did not pay off, mainly because Vietnamese goalie Dang Van Lam made three eye-catching saves during the match.
Furthermore, Vietnamese players sometimes deployed blitz counter-attacks, forcing their rivals to commit fouls. Malaysian players received one red card and several yellow cards.
After the match, Vietnamese young striker Nguyen Quang Hai was given the AFF Championship’s best player award with a cash prize of 10,000 U.S. dollars.
The tournament’s champion walked away with a cash prize of 300,000 U.S. dollars. It will also receive large amounts of cash from Vietnamese state agencies, organizations and businesses.