In the last 13 encounters at SEA Games, Vietnam won six, draw two and lost five against Indonesia.

The previous SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines saw Vietnam beating Indonesia 3-0 in the final to win the gold medal.

In this SEA Games, Vietnam and Indonesia were put in group A together with Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste.

This was an important game in group A since the two teams are fancied to advance.

In the 40th minute, Bui Hoang Viet Anh of Vietnam managed to get a header from a freekick and he missed it.

Just one minute later, the situation got heated after Rachmat Irian of Indonesia kicked Van Tung in the back and both sides couldn't keep their cool. The referee had to interfere and the game was resumed shortly after that.

After the first 45 minutes, the score of the match at Viet Tri Stadium in northern Phu Tho province was still 0-0.

In the 54th minute, Le Van Do assisted Nguyen Tien Linh, who finished from a narrow angle to make it 1-0 for Vietnam.

In the 74th minute, Vietnamese captain Do Hung Dung ran down to receive a pass and faced keeper Satryo. He calmly finished with the outside of his right foot to score the second goal for Vietnam.

Four minutes later, Nguyen Tien Linh was closed to scoring a double after the ball found him from a corner, but he missed the shot.

In the 87th minute, after Le Van Xuan dribbled and finished off the bar, Le Van Do made a shot from outside the box and to keeper Satryo's surprise, it went in.

In an earlier match of Group A, the Philippines defeated Timor Leste 4-0.

Philippines beat Timor Leste 4-0 in SEA Games 31 opener

The Philippines defeated Timor Leste 4-0 in the first match of Group A in the men’s football at SEA Games 31 in northern Phu Tho province on May 6.

Thousands of spectators attended the match at Viet Tri Stadium, which is set to host 10 games, including those of the hosts Vietnam, from May 6-21.

Defender Christian Rontini gave the Philippines the lead in the 21st minute. 

The Philippines were then able to capitalise on errors by the Timor Leste defensive line to secure a 4-0 victory.

On May 8, Timor Leste will face Myanmar, while the Philippines will play Vietnam.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, will be held in the capital city of Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities from May 12 to 23.

Featuring 40 sports with 526 events, it is expected to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: VNA