Defending champions Vietnam make winning start to ASEAN Championship

Screengrab of the Vietnam-Timor Leste match in the ASEAN Championship on Friday (Jul 24). 25 Jul 2026 10:33AM Vietnam kicked off the defence of their ASEAN Championship title with a 7-0 win over Timor-Leste in Chonburi on Friday (Jul 24), with Nguyen Dinh Bac scoring a hat-trick for Kim Sang-sik's side.Brazil-born forward Do Hoang Hen gave Vietnam a seventh-minute lead before Dinh Bac doubled his side's advantage in the 31st minute with a curling strike into the bottom corner of Dylan Niski's goal. Hoang Hen and Dinh Bac scored and Nguyen Xuan Son was on target in stoppage time to give Vietnam a five-goal lead at the interval.Dinh Bac completed his hat-trick in the 65th minute when he steered home Bui Hoang Viet Anh's cutback and an own goal by Liam Farrugia completed the rout. Singapore n