The 2010 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and P&G and officially known as the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup,[1] was the 8th edition of the AFF Championship, took place on 1–29 December 2010.[2]Indonesia and Vietnam hosted the group stage from 1 to 8 December. Two-legged home-and-away semi-finals and finals were held between 15 and 29 December 2010.[3]
Vietnam were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Malaysia in the semi-finals. Indonesia appeared in their fourth final while the Philippines qualified for the semi-finals for the first time under the management of Simon McMenemy.[4]Malaysia subsequently won their first ever title since they first appeared in the final in the inaugural edition,[5] beating Indonesia 4–2 on aggregate in the finals. Malaysia became the first nation to win the AFF Cup (including tournaments held under earlier formats), despite losing two games in the tournament (both to Indonesia).
Hosts
On 17 February 2009, Vietnam declared their interest in hosting the group stage.[6] On 21 April 2009, the Vietnamese newspaper VietNamNet announced that Vietnam would co-host the group stage along with Indonesia.[7][8]
Venues
There were two main venues; the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta and the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi with two secondary venues which will be used simultaneously with the main venue on the final match day of the group stage. Originally, the secondary venue for Group B was the Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Hanoi. However, on 22 November 2010, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) announced that it would not be ready in time for the tournament due to ongoing renovations and was replaced by the Thiên Trường Stadium.[9] For Group A, the original secondary venue was the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung but on 24 November 2010 a week after an AFF meeting, it was announced that it would be replaced with the Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium.[10][11] Teams qualifying for the semi-finals would also host a game, in this case, Malaysia whom qualified used their Bukit Jalil National Stadium for the semi-final and final.
† The first leg of the semi-finals was supposed to be played in the Philippines. However, due to the unavailability of a stadium that passes AFF standards, both legs were hosted by Indonesia.[13]
During the group match between Indonesia and Malaysia at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, some Indonesian fans are seen pointing green laser lights towards Malaysian goalkeeperMohd Sharbinee when Indonesia scored their fifth goal as seen here. Other incidents also occurred soon after Malaysia's semi-final home leg against Vietnam, when Vietnamese goalkeeper Bùi Tấn Trường stated that he was targeted with green laser pointers from the Malaysian fans when he prepared for goal kicks and when saving the ball, which caused him to turn his head away.[15] During the final, Malaysia's fans again targeted the opposition players with green laser pointers. The first leg, also at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, was stopped for eight minutes starting in the 53rd minute when the Indonesian players walked off in protest and complained to referee Masaaki Toma about the laser lights.[16][17] Malaysia scored their first goal right after play was resumed.[18] The return-leg final in Jakarta saw Indonesian fans also pointing green laser lights again towards Malaysian goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat.[19][20][21][22]
^"Malaysia stride towards cup win". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 December 2010. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
