2008 AFF Championship

The 2008 AFF Championship was the seventh edition of the tournament. It was primarily sponsored by Suzuki and therefore officially known as the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup.[1] The group stage was held in Indonesia and Thailand from 5 to 10 December 2008. Two-legged home-and-away semi-finals and finals were held between 16 and 28 December 2008 in Singapore and Vietnam.

2008 AFF Championship
2008 Kejuaraan Sepak Bola ASEAN
2008 อาเซียนฟุตบอลแชมเปียนชิพ
AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 official logo
Tournament details
Host countryIndonesia
Thailand
(for group stage) Singapore
Vietnam
(for knockout stage)
Dates5–28 December
Teams8
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Vietnam (1st title)
Runners-up Thailand
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored56 (3.11 per match)
Top scorer(s)Singapore Agu Casmir
Indonesia Budi Sudarsono
Thailand Teerasil Dangda
(4 goals)
Best player(s)Vietnam Dương Hồng Sơn

Singapore were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Vietnam in the semi-finals. Vietnam won the tournament by a 3–2 victory in the two-legged final against Thailand to win their first title.

Summary

The tournament would originally have been hosted by Myanmar because of the rotation system among ASEAN countries, however, they withdrew in August 2007 due to security concerns.[2] In the third AFF council meeting in Bali, Indonesia and Thailand beat three other countries to win the right to host (the other three were Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam). However, if both countries are unable to fulfill certain obligations set by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), Vietnam will step in and host the tournament. The winning team will take home USD100,000, runners-up USD 50,000, and USD 15,000 for the losing semi-finalists. Nike will be an official supplier for the 2008 AFF Championship.[3]

10 days before the start of the tournament, safety issues were raised contending the safety of the teams who were due to play in Bangkok. This was because of the riots that were happening in the city which also resulted in the closure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport (see 2008 Thai political crisis for further information). Due to the political crisis, the Football Association of Thailand stated that the Group Stages in the Thai capital Bangkok would go ahead, or if the situation got worse, games would be moved to Chiang Mai in the north of the country or Phuket in the South of the country.[4][5][6]

As well as Thailand confirming themselves as steady hosts, Vietnam and Malaysia also stated that they would be prepared to host the tournament at short notice.[7][8]

On 29 November, with less than one week before the start of the tournament, the group stages held in Thai sport were moved from the capital Bangkok to the southern province Phuket.[9]

Venues

Indonesia prepare Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the capital city and Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, while Thailand prepare Rajamangala Stadium and Suphachalasai Stadium where both of them located in Bangkok. All of the stadiums are 2007 AFC Asian Cup venues except of Si Jalak Harupat Stadium. Bung Karno Stadium will be the opening match venue, while Rajmangala Stadium will be the final match venue.

Group stage matches in Thai sport were switched from the capital Bangkok to the southern provinces Phuket at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City on 29 November due to security issues in Bangkok.[9][10]

Qualification

The qualification took place in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from 17 October 2008 to 25 October 2008. The five lower-ranked teams in Southeast Asia play within a round-robin tournament format and the top two countries in the group will qualify for this tournament.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the tournament.

Country Previous best performance
 Thailand Winners (1996, 2000, 2002)
 Singapore Winners (1998, 2004, 2007)
 Indonesia Runners-up (2000, 2002, 2004)
 Vietnam Runners-up (1998)
 Malaysia Runners-up (1996)
 Myanmar Fourth-place (2004)
 Laos Group stage (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007)
 Cambodia Group stage (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004)

Squads

Referees

Confirmed referees during the tournament:[11]

Final tournament

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Singapore 3300101+99
 Indonesia 320172+56
 Myanmar 310248−43
 Cambodia 3003212−100
Singapore 5–0 Cambodia
Casmir 44', 73'
Mustafić 61' (pen.)
Sahdan 71'
Alam Shah 89'

Indonesia 3–0 Myanmar
Budi 24'
Firman 28'
Bambang 64'
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Ramachandran Krishnan (Malaysia)

Singapore 3–1 Myanmar
Alam Shah 1'
Casmir 16', 74'
Myo Min Tun 28'
Attendance: 21,000
Referee: Phùng Đình Dũng (Vietnam)

Cambodia 0–4 Indonesia
Budi 15', 54', 70'
Bambang 76'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Mohd Nafeez Abdul Wahab (Malaysia)

Myanmar 3–2 Cambodia
Moe Win 29'
Ya Zar Win Thein 35'
Myo Min Tun 85'
Sokumpheak 40'
Borey 77'
Referee: Allan Martinez (Philippines)

Indonesia 0–2 Singapore
Baihakki 3'
Shi Jiayi 50'
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Ramachandran Krishnan (Malaysia)

Group B

  • All Matches played in Thailand.
  • All times are Indochina Time (ICT) – UTC+7
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Thailand 3300110+119
 Vietnam 320174+36
 Malaysia 310256−13
 Laos 3003013−130
Malaysia 3–0 Laos
Safee 68', 87'
Indra Putra 73'
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Midi Setiyono (Indonesia)

Thailand 2–0 Vietnam
Sutee 34'
Suchao 45+4'
Attendance: 20,000

Malaysia 2–3 Vietnam
Indra Putra 20', 85' Phạm Thành Lương 16'
Nguyễn Vũ Phong 72', 86'
Referee: Pandian Palaniyandi (Singapore)

Laos 0–6 Thailand
Ronnachai 19'
Patiparn 30'
Arthit 40', 52'
Anon 79', 89'
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Mohamed Hadimin (Brunei)

Thailand 3–0 Malaysia
Sutee 23'
Teerasil 46', 76'

Knockout stages

Note: Although the knockout stages are two-legged, away goals rule is not applied. If the total aggregate score of both teams after both matches remained the same, extra time would have been played, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.

Semi-finals Final
          
B1  Thailand 1 2 3
A2  Indonesia 0 1 1
B1  Thailand 1 1 2
B2  Vietnam 2 1 3
A1  Singapore 0 0 0
B2  Vietnam 0 1 1

Semi-finals

First Leg
Indonesia 0–1 Thailand
Report Teerasil 6'

Vietnam 0–0 Singapore
Report
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Ramachandran Krishnan (Malaysia)
Second Leg
Thailand 2–1 Indonesia
Teeratep 73'
Ronnachai 89'
Report Nova 9'
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Mohamed Hadimin (Brunei)

Thailand won 3–1 on aggregate.


Singapore 0–1 Vietnam
Report Nguyễn Quang Hải 74'

Vietnam won 1–0 on aggregate.

Final

First leg
Thailand 1–2 Vietnam
Dương Hồng Sơn 75' (o.g.) Report Nguyễn Vũ Phong 40'
Lê Công Vinh 42'
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Ramachandran Krishnan (Malaysia)
Second leg
Vietnam 1–1 Thailand
Lê Công Vinh 90+4' Report Teerasil 21'

Vietnam won 3–2 on aggregate.

Vietnamese fans after the final
Vietnamese players celebrating their win

Awards

 2008 AFF Championship 

Vietnam

First title
Most Valuable Player Golden Boot Fair Play Award
Vietnam Dương Hồng Sơn Singapore Agu Casmir
Indonesia Budi Sudarsono
Thailand Teerasil Dangda
 Thailand

Goalscorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD P
Final
1 Vietnam 7421116+514
2 Thailand 7511164+1216
Semi-finals
3 Singapore 5311102+810
4 Indonesia 520385+36
Eliminated in the group stage
5 Malaysia 310256−13
6 Myanmar 310248−43
7 Cambodia 3003212−100
8 Laos 3003013−130

References

  1. "Suzuki Sponsor AFF Suzuki Cup 2008". Aseanfootball.org. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  2. "Thailand, Indonesia to host 2008 ASEAN championships". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
  3. "Indonesia and Thailand Hosts For ASEAN Football Championship 2008". Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
  4. "Worawi: 'It's still on!". AFC. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  5. "AFF Suzuki Cup en español". Periodismo de fútbol internacional. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  6. "Suzuki Cup tournament could be moved from Bangkok to Phuket due to political chaos". Bangkok Post. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  7. "Vietnam top candidate to replace Thailand as AFF Cup host". VietNamNet. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  8. "Malaysia willing to replace Thailand as AFF Cup host". VietNamNet. 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  9. "Thailand shifts Suzuki Cup out of troubled Bangkok". Yahoo! Sports. 29 November 2008. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  10. "Suzuki Cup meet will be held in Phuket from December 6, says Worawi". Bangkok Post. 30 November 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  11. "Wasit Indonesia Masih Dipercaya" (in Indonesian). Pikiran Rakyat Online. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  12. "Thailand-Malaysia Move To Bangkok". AFF. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  13. "Final group B matches to stay in Phuket". AFF. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
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