VIETNAM, 16 may 2022, (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste ended its struggle in the 31st Sea Games after losing 0-2 to Vietnam in the final match of Group A on sunday (15/05).
After losing 0-2 to Vietnam, Timor-Leste’s National Under-23 Football Team’s dreams faded away.
Timor-Leste lost all four matches in Group A of the Sea Games, giving the newest Southeast Asia nation a valuable lesson to be well prepared for the next Sea Games Soccer matches.
On may 6, Timor-Leste kicked off its first Sea Games match with a 0-4 loss to the Philippines. In the next match, National Crocodile Team lost 2-3 to Myanmar. In its third match against Indonesia, Timor-Leste was defeated 1-4 by Indonesia’s national team. Finally, Timor-Leste ended its struggle in the Sea Games after losing 0-2 to Vietnam National Team on sunday (15/05).
The four losses gave Timor-Leste no other choice but must return home to regroup and train hard for the next sports event.
Despite losing in the four matches, Timor-Leste National Under-23 Football Team showed good football skills by making a number of counter-attacks.
The crocodile national team played defensively and didn’t anticipate Vietnam’s ambition on making unexpected attacks to comfortably beat Timor Leste with 2-0 at Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho Province on the evening of may 15 to progress into the semifinals of the Sea Games.
During the first half of the match, Timor-Leste’s national team performed well in maintaining 0-0 against Vietnam. But, in the second half of the match, the first goal scored by Nguyen Van gave Vietnam the lead in the match from 0-1.
Nguyen Van’s goal destroyed the Timorese player’s mental and gave another chance to Vietnam’s national team to score their second goal in the 65 minutes by Minh Ho Thanh.
After defeating the bottom-placed Timor-Leste, Vietnam sealed the top spot in Group A of the Southeast Asian with 10 points. Meanwhile, Indonesian National Team finished as the runner-up by securing 9 points to advance to the semifinals as well.
Three teams in the Group A, namely Myanmar (6 points), the Philippines (4 points), and Timor-Leste (zero points) failed to make it through to the semi-finals.
The 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games features 40 sports across 526 events and counts on the participation of 5,467 athletes from 11 different nations – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Laos, Singapore, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Southeast Asian Games owe its origins to the South East Asian Peninsular Games or SEA Games. On 22 May 1958, delegates from the countries in the Southeast Asian Peninsula attending the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan had a meeting and agreed to establish a sports organization.
The SEA Games was conceptualized by Luang Sukhum Nayapradit, then Vice-President of the Thailand Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will help promote cooperation, understanding, and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Six countries, Burma (now Myanmar), Kampuchea (now Cambodia), Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand, and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) were the founding members.
The first SEA Games were held in Bangkok from 12–17 December 1959, with more than 527 athletes and officials from 6 countries; Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, Malaya, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand participating in 12 sports.
Journalist: Hortencio Sanchez
Editor: Julia Chatarina/ Nelia Borges
Translator: José Belarmino De Sa
