Williams Minh Hoang says Vietnam want to win the third-place match against Harimau Malaya

Vietnam go into Monday’s FIFA ASEAN Cup third-place match against Harimau Malaya aiming for victory, striker Williams Minh Hoang told FIFA in an interview published on 2 October. “Of course, every game is just as important as the next,” he said. “Our objective is to win”.

Williams scored his first goal for Vietnam in the 4-2 win over Pakistan, a match his side turned around after falling behind. He told FIFA he should have scored a hat-trick that day. According to FIFA’s article, he also played in the win over the Philippines, where he says he got an assist, and came on as a substitute against Thailand.

He put the slow start against Pakistan down to “a slight lapse in concentration because of the weather and the state of the pitch”. “But in the second half we showed our character and fighting spirit, came back and got the result we wanted,” he added.

Harimau Malaya went through the group stage unbeaten, with two wins and a draw from three matches. They beat Bangladesh 3-0 on 25 September, drew 0-0 with Indonesia on 28 September and finished with a 6-0 win over Singapore in Bandung on 1 October.

The two sides met twice in August, in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Championship. Vietnam won both legs 2-0, at Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Cheras on 16 August and at My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi on 19 August.

The third-place match kicks off at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta on Monday 5 October, at 5pm Malaysian time.

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