Vietnam hold Indonesia to goalless draw in ASEAN football semifinal’s first leg
The boring goalless showdown extended Vietnam’s unbeaten streak at the tournament to five consecutive games, but also marked the 2008 and 2018 winners’ second blank game, after a similar 0-0 draw against Singapore in the group phase. Vietnam had a tough game while Indonesia could not utilize their home advantage. After the first ten tepid minutes when the ball was mainly kept in the midfield, Indonesia had more attacks than Vietnam and put the visitors under immense pressure through to the half-time mark. Had it not been for Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Van Lam’s excellence, Indonesia might have got the opening goal. However, the hosts failed to convert their relevant chances. Vietnam’s possession of 56 percent resulted in nothing but four goalless finishes. The inclusion of Nguyen Hoang Duc, Nguyen Quang Hai, and Nguyen Tien Linh also turned out to be ineffective as all of these goal hopefuls made various mistakes. While a more compelling second half was highly anticipated, bot