JAKARTA: Indonesia were held to a 0-0 draw by visitors Vietnam in the first leg of their Asean Championship semi-final in Jakarta on Friday as Shin Tae-yong’s side look to reach a second successive final in the Southeast Asian competition.
Neither team were able to find a way through at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with the Indonesians creating the better opportunities only to struggle to convert.
Indonesia have never won the competition, but reached the final last year when the tournament was played on a centralised basis in Singapore before losing to Thailand across two legs.
Shin’s outfit threatened to open up the Vietnamese on several occasions in the first half with Yance Sayuri seeing his effort deflected towards goal by Do Duy Manh, forcing Vietnam keeper Dang Van Lam to push the ball away for a corner.
Van Lam was on hand to deny Sayuri again, palming a header to safety after he stepped inside a defender to meet Pratama Arhan’s cross from the left.
The teams will meet again in Hanoi on Monday and the winners will face either Thailand or Malaysia, who will play the first leg of their semi-final on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.
The War Elephants have never beaten Malaysia at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which is often packed to its capacity of about 90,000 fans. But they say they prefer not to dwell on the past.
The final will be held on Jan 13 and 16.
