Nguyen Dinh Bac's controversial goal was the pivotal moment, securing Vietnam a 2-1 win against Laos in their opening match of Group B in the men's football event at SEA Games 33. In the 60th minute, the 21-year-old forward dribbled into the penalty area and fired a left-footed shot into the far corner. However, on the sideline, assistant referee Sanjar Shayusupov raised his flag, signaling an offside against Nguyen Quoc Viet, who was positioned behind the defense and in front of the Laotian goalkeeper.

After more than two minutes of discussion, main referee Rustam Lutfullin decided to award the goal to Vietnam. His decision likely stemmed from the assessment that Quoc Viet was moving horizontally towards the near post, effectively attempting to move out of the ball's trajectory towards the goal. Quoc Viet's action of jumping up was also interpreted as "trying to avoid the ball and not participating in the play," thus rendering him non-culpable.

Hoang Thong