Macau secures semi-final place in Solidarity Cup

Macau secured its place in the semi-finals of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup on Sunday evening with a 4-1 come-from-behind win over Laos at Sarawak Stadium.
Khamphanh Sonthanalay gave Laos the lead after just three minutes, but goals from Lao Pak Kin and Leong Ka Hang put Macau in front before a brace by Nicholas Torrão secured all three points for his side, who picked up their second consecutive win.
Macau now leads Group B with six points from their opening two games, which means that it cannot finish outside the top two places. Laos remains on three points, ahead of Sri Lanka and Mongolia.
Coach Tam Iao San hailed his team’s spirit and expressed his hopes that his players could focus on the team’s defense, particularly after Laos made some changes in the second half.
“We tried to drop back and use the counterattacks and the players did well. They defended well, they organized the counterattacks and I’d like to say thanks to them,” said Tam, cited by Fox Sports.
“We already reached our target. Before we came here, our target was to get to the semi-finals and we have achieved that. Now we will fight game by game.”
The coach admitted it was difficult to organize the players and to implement the changes required to play in international matches.
“But we want to encourage Macau football, especially among the young generation. They can work hard and have a model for the top team, so we want to fight game by game.”
The AFC Solidarity Cup is an international tournament created for countries that lose the first qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup or the second play-off in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
Semi-finals of the tournament will take place this Saturday at Sarawak Stadium, Kuching in Malaysia. The final match will take place on November 15.