Timor Leste U-23 qualify for the semifinals 2022 AFF U-23 Cup after a narrow 1-0 win over Cambodia at the Morodok Techo National Stadium, Sunday (20/2).
Prior to this final match, hosts Cambodia only needed a draw to advance to the top four.
Ryu Hirose’s team appeared to dominate the game over Timor Leste. Instead of winning first over Timor Leste, Cambodia had to concede through an own goal from defender Yue Safy in the 18th minute.
Cambodia appeared with high mobility and diligent in moving the ball from the right side to the left, and vice versa.
The effort was made by Tes Sambath and his friends in order to dismantle the solid defenses of Timor Leste.
Despite continuing to attack, Cambodia could not score an equalizer until the first half was over.
Cambodia played a similar game in the second half. The team nicknamed Angkor continued to play short balls, which were often completed with crosses, hoping to create chaos that led to goals. But the attempt was also not successful.
The difficulty of dismantling the defenses of Timor Leste made Cambodia take another way, namely through kicks from distance. However, Nhean Sosidan’s left-footed shot in the 74th minute was still far from goalkeeper Junildo Pereira’s goal.
Timor Leste, which has a 1-0 lead over Cambodia, appears confident. Fabio Joaquim Da Silva’s team played on the counter-attack.
In the 82nd minute, Paulo Gali Freitas had a chance that could make Timor Leste 2-0 up. However, after successfully accelerating to the front of the Cambodian penalty box, Gali was too late to release a pass to his partner so that the opponent first blocked it.
Substitute Elias Mesquita posed a serious threat to the Cambodian defense in the 84th minute. It’s just that, Mesquita’s bait pull from inside the penalty box can be thwarted by a Cambodian defender.
Without additional goals in the remaining matches, Timor Leste won 1-0 over Cambodia. The victory passed Timor Leste to the semifinals of the AFF U-23 Cup, while Cambodia had to count through the second best place.
Meanwhile, in another match the Philippines won 2-1 over Brunei Darussalam at Prince Stadium. The Philippines’ winning goals were scored by Dennis Chung in the 48th minute and Sandro Reyes in the 58th minute, Brunei’s goal was scored by Hakeme Yazid in the 59th minute. at Prince’s Stadium.
(sry)
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