Nam Dinh were confident going into the contest as they needed only a draw to move on to the semifinals. They dominated the opening minutes of the game thanks to the strong play of striker Hoang Ngoc Linh, recently back from suspension.

But the first scoring opportunity came to An Giang when Tuan Anh delivered a precise through ball to Danh Nhut, but the young defender fired the ball wide.

Nam Dinh continued to pressure their opponents after the break. Danh Ngoc, Ngoc Linh and Manh Dung created a chance to put their team in front but in-form goalkeeper Minh Nhut, who was eventually voted Man of the Match, shut them down at every effort.

But Nam Dinh were stunned into silence in the 67th minute when Thanh Tung sent a free-kick to an unmarked Duc Trung, who made no mistake in sweeping the ball past goalkeeper Thanh Trung.

A shell-shocked Nam Dinh then threw everything into the attack for the remainder of the game but they couldn’t break An Giang’s steadfast resistance.

At the other end, An Giang looked increasingly dangerous in their counter attacks but their frontline squandered many promising chances.

An Giang stood firm until the final whistle to earn a berth in the semi-finals where they will take on Song Lam Nghe An (Nghe An).

Meanwhile, defending champions Ton Phuoc Khanh Tien Giang (Tien Giang) bowed out of the Thanh Nien Cup yesterday after they were thrashed 1-4 by Binh Dinh.

Striker Thanh Sang left Binh Dinh’s victory against Tien Giang in no doubt when he scored the first hat trick of the tournament within 25 minutes of the opening whistle.

Tien Giang’s Quoc Anh reduced the deficit by converting a penalty kick in the 18th minute but midfielder Quoc Thinh rounded off Binh Dinh’s spectacular win with a powerful shot two minutes before the break. The result left Nam Dinh crashing out of the competition.

“We are very happy with our bid into the semi-finals, this is a wonderful achievement for us. What makes me even happier is to see our athletes really maturing, match after match,” said An Giang’s coach Vo Hong Phuc at the post-game press conference.

Nam Dinh’s coach Tran Doan Dung congratulated his opponents after the match. “We were not lucky. Congratulations to An Giang, we’ll see you again in 2008.” he said.

Reported by Quang Huy-Giang Lao