Soccer-Singapore and Vietnam close in on semifinal berths  

   HANOI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Singapore were denied an 
immediate route into the semifinals of the Tiger Cup after 
seeing two goals disallowed in their clash with host nation 
Vietnam.
   Both strikes by Rafi Ali were ruled out for offside. The 
game ended in a 0-0 draw.
   Earlier, Malaysia and Laos also played out a goalless 
draw. That result means both Singapore and Vietnam, who won 
their opening group games against Malaysia and Laos 
respectively, need only draw their final game to reach the 
last four.
   Ali saw his first effort cancelled out on the stroke of 
halftime when he nipped in to score from close range only 
to see the assistant referee's flag go up.
   The second, with just three minutes left, came when Ali 
bundled the ball over the line after a headed knockdown by 
Sasi Kumar. Again the flag went up, only this time after a 
brief period of contemplation by the official.
   Vietnam's chances were limited by Singapore's well 
drilled defence.
   The hosts came closest to scoring on the half hour when 
Le Huynh Duc pushed the ball past Singapore goalkeeper 
Rezal Hassan, only to see a puddle in the goalmouth slow 
the ball sufficiently for Kumar to clear off the line.
   

Soccer-Tiger Cup results  

   HANOI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Results of Tiger Cup group B 
matches on Friday:

   Malaysia 0
   Laos 0
   --------
   Vietnam 0
   Singapore 0
   --------- 

   Group B standings
              P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
   Vietnam    2  1  1  0  4  1  4
   Singapore  2  1  1  0  2  0  4
   Malaysia   2  0  1  1  0  2  1
   Laos       2  0  1  1  1  4  1