Laos triumphs over Indonesia in men’s football

Lao striker Lamnao Singto made himself a national hero yesterday after scoring two goals against Indonesia in the men’s football, winning the match and bringing Laos one step closer to the semifinal round.

The two teams fought it out in front a capacity crowd of 4,000 spectators at Chao Anouvong. Many more Local fans swarmed around the outside of the stadium to get a view of their team and let them hear their support.

The closely matched teams could not expose any weak areas in each other’s defence during the first half, which ended 0-0.

The second half continued to be a battle for possession until Lamnao scored the first goal in the 66th minute, following up with a second ten minutes later.

“I was very happy to score two goals in this match and raise our hopes to go to the semifinals, but we can’t be careless because we have a big match with Singapore coming up,” said Lamnao after the game, adding that the team were 100 percent fit going into the competition after training hard for many months.

“Our team today was playing very well to be able to beat a strong team like Indonesia and give an opportunity for us to go to the semifinals,” said Lao Coach Alfred Redl.

The Lao team needs only to draw with Singapore in the next match at 17.45 on December 10, again at Chao Anouvong, to stand a chance at the semifinal round.

Earlier in the day Singapore beat Myanmar 2-1 at the same venue in the men’s competition.

Fans were also cheering the Lao side at the National Stadium, where hundreds of opening ceremony performers gathered around the big screen to catch a glimpse of the action during a rehearsal of the SEA Games opening ceremony, which starts tomorrow night at the National Stadium from 6pm.

Indonesia beat Laos 4-0 in the qualifying round for the Philippines SEA Games in 2005.

Source: KPL Lao News Agency
December 08, 2009