PETALING JAYA: The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) is set to initiate investigations into the country's "incomprehensible defeat" to Malaysia in the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final played at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi Thursday.
VFF chairman Le Hung Dung told local newspaper Thanh Nien that they would ask authorities to investigate the game, particularly the team's defence.
"I don't know what happened, and perhaps neither does coach (Toshiya) Miura. The defence was to blame for all four goals. Were they really that bad?" said Le.
Vietnam conceded four goals in the first half of the game.
Malaysia went on to win the second leg match 4-2 to advance to the finals of the tournament on a 5-4 aggregate score, after losing the first leg 1-2 at the Shah Alam Stadium.
Malaysia will face Thailand in a two-legged final.
"Malaysia was not that great, but we shot ourselves in the foot.
"We want relevant authorities to step in and clarify the truth so Vietnam's football won't be damaged any further," Thanh Nien reported Le as saying.
Vietnam's Japanese coach Miura was also puzzled with the result and could not explain why the team performed so badly against Malaysia.
"I don't know exactly what happened. The defence made mistakes... but offensive players also had a role in this game. Vietnamese players didn't play with the utmost determination," Thanh Nien reported.
In recent years, Vietnamese football has been blighted by match-fixing scandals.
A Vietnamese Vissai Ninh Binh FC player was jailed for two-and-a-half years for fixing an AFC Cup match against Kelantan in March 2014.
Eight other members of the same team were given suspended sentences of up to 27 months for manipulating the result of the match.
Prior to the AFF Suzuki Cup, the VFF, in collaboration with the Vietnamese police, assigned a police officer to accompany the national squad throughout the duration of the tournament.
