Vietnam hammered the Philippines 4-0 here Wednesday evening to take on Thailand in a semifinal of the 2015 AFF Women's Championship.

Before whitewashing the Philippines 4-0 to top Group B, Vietnam defeated Myanmar 3-2 and Malaysia 7-0. Vietnam and Myanmar have now officially won berths to semifinals. Vietnam will play Thailand on May 8, while Australia U-20 will fight Myanmar.

In the game on Wednesday, all four goals were scored in the first half, with a hat-trick by Vietnamese striker Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet. Three minutes into the game, latching onto the ball's rebound from her teammate's header, Nguyet made the opening goal. Vietnamese half-backer Tran Thi Thuy Trang doubled the lead in the 12th minute.

Nguyet extended the lead to 3-0 in the 28th minute. She made a hat-trick by converting a penalty in the 38th minute, sealing the lopsided victory for her team.

After the break, Vietnam' s head coach Norimatsu Takashi asked some key Vietnamese players to leave the field to save their strength. Meanwhile, physically strong Filipino players still played vigorously, but they had only one really dangerous attack.

Thailand, Australia U-20, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines are competing at the 2015 Women's Championship. Japan was crowned at the previous tournament. Endi

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