Before the final round of the AFF Suzuki Cup group matches get underway on 7-8 December, Bola Bang takes a look at the possible permutations for the teams still aspiring to reach the last four.
Group A standings so far
Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Indonesia 2 2 0 0 11 1 6
2 Thailand 2 0 2 0 2 2 2
3 Malaysia 2 0 1 1 1 5 1
4 Laos 2 0 1 1 2 8 1
Matches - 7 December
Malaysia v Laos
Indonesia v Thailand
Indonesia have already qualified for the semi-finals and secured Group A as winners so it leaves the other three teams to fight it out for second place.
Thailand will progress if they beat the co-hosts in their final group game. They can also advance with a draw provided the other game also ends in a stalemate.
If Thailand lose though and the other game ends in a draw, they can only afford to lose by at most a three-goal deficit to avoid the lottery of having to decide by the number of goals scored to determine which team join Indonesia in the last four.
Malaysia or Laos can advance into the semis with an outright win over the other in the group game, and hope Thailand do not beat Indonesia in the other match.
Malaysia can still finish second in the group if they draw and Thailand lose by a margin of more than four goals. Should the Thais lose by four goals, the Malaysians will need a higher scoring draw than the total number of goals the Thais can muster in the group stage.
Group B standings so far
Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Philippines 2 1 1 0 3 1 4
2 Singapore 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
3 Vietnam 2 1 0 1 7 3 3
4 Myanmar 2 0 0 2 2 9 0
Matches - 8 December
Philippines v Myanmar
Vietnam v Singapore
Myanmar cannot progress beyond the group stage of the tournament, but a win over surprise group leaders Philippines will help Singapore and Vietnam, who have a superior goal difference than the leaders, progress provided the other game ends in a draw.
Philippines only need at least a draw to finish among the top two in the pool. For them to finish first, they will either need a better win margin than Singapore or hope both games end in draws.
Singapore also need at least a point to advance into the last four. They will need to achieve a higher margin of victory than the Philippines to finish first if both of them win their final respective group matches. They can also finish top with a win and a Filipino draw.
Vietnam must win their final group game against Singapore to continue their defence of the Suzuki Cup beyond the first round. They will only finish top if they win and Philippines draw.
No comments:
Post a Comment