2012 AFF Championship
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The 2012 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 9th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of Southeast Asia. It was co-hosted for group stage by Malaysia and Thailand and took place from 24 November to 22 December 2012.
Malaysia were the defending champions but were eliminated by Thailand in the semi-finals. Singapore became the first side to win the AFF Championship four times, beating Thailand 3–2 on aggregate in the finals. Singapore coach Radojko Avramović also became the most successful coach in tournament history, adding to his wins in 2004 and 2007.
Hosts
On 17 December 2010, the Philippine Football Federation declared their interest to host the 2012 AFF Championship. However, with no other reported interest and following the meeting of the AFF Council on 19 February 2011, Malaysia and Thailand were announced as hosts of the group stage.
Venues
There were two main venues; the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. The secondary venues; the Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor State and the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok for the final round of group games on 30 November and 1 December. The Supachalasai Stadium replaced the Muang Thong Stadium as the alternative venue for the final match day in Group A on 27 November, after itself had been replaced by the Muang Thong Stadium on 17 October. If Thailand reached the semifinals and finals, their home games were played at the Supachalasai Stadium as the Rajamangala was hosting the 2012 Race of Champions. Philippines and Singapore also hosted games due to making the knockout stages. The Philippines hosted at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, the first time an AFF Championship game was held in the Philippines and Singapore hosted at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
| Malaysia Kuala Lumpur | ManilaKuala LumpurBangkokSingaporeShah AlamLocation of stadiums of the 2014 AFF Championship. Orange: Finals, Semi-finals and Group Stage; Red: Finals and Semi-finals; Blue: Semi-finals; Green: Semi-finals and Group Stage; Yellow: Group Stage. | Malaysia Shah Alam |
|---|---|---|
| Bukit Jalil National Stadium | Shah Alam Stadium | |
| Capacity: 110,000 | Capacity: 80,372 | |
| Thailand Bangkok | Thailand Bangkok | |
| Rajamangala Stadium | Supachalasai Stadium | |
| Capacity: 49,722 | Capacity: 19,793 | |
| Philippines Manila | Singapore Singapore | |
| Rizal Memorial Stadium | Jalan Besar Stadium | |
| Capacity: 12,873 | Capacity: 8,000 | |
Qualification

Qualification took place from 5 to 13 October 2012. It involved the five lower ranked teams in Southeast Asia. All teams played in a round-robin tournament format with the top two teams qualifying for the tournament proper. Six teams have qualified directly to the finals.
- Indonesia
- Laos (Qualification runners-up)
- Malaysia
- Myanmar (Qualification winners)
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Draw
The draw for the tournament as well as the qualification tournament took place on the afternoon of 11 July 2012 at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Bangkok. The teams that qualified via the qualifying stages were not yet determined at the time of the draw. The eight finalists were divided into four pots of two teams each based on team rankings.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia (co-host) Thailand (co-host) | Vietnam Indonesia | Singapore Philippines | Qualification winner – Myanmar Qualification runner-up – Laos |
Squads
Final tournament
Group stage
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| Top two placed teams advanced to the semi-finals |
Tie-breaking criteria
Ranking in each group shall be determine as follows:
- Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches;
- Goal difference in all the group matches;
- Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows:
- Result of the direct match between the teams concerned;
- Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.
However, these criteria would not apply if two teams tied on points, goals scored, and conceded played against each other in their final group match, are still level at the end of that match, and no other team in group finishes with same points; in that case, the tie would be broken by a penalty shootout.
Group A
- All matches were played in Thailand.
- Times listed are UTC+7.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 |
| Philippines | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 1 |
| Vietnam | 1–1 | Myanmar |
|---|---|---|
| Lê Tấn Tài 34' | Kyi Lin 53' (pen.) |
| Thailand | 2–1 | Philippines |
|---|---|---|
| Jakkraphan 39' Anucha 41' | Mulders 77' |
| Vietnam | 0–1 | Philippines |
|---|---|---|
| Caligdong 86' |
| Philippines | 2–0 | Myanmar |
|---|---|---|
| P. Younghusband 47' Á. Guirado 90+4' |
| Thailand | 3–1 | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Kirati 21', 65' Nguyễn Gia Từ 82' (o.g.) | Nguyễn Văn Quyết 72' |
Group B
- All matches were played in Malaysia.
- Times listed are UTC+8.
Knockout stage
Semifinals
First Leg
| Malaysia | 1–1 | Thailand |
|---|---|---|
| Norshahrul 48' | Teerasil 78' |
Second Leg
| Singapore | 1–0 | Philippines |
|---|---|---|
| Khairul 19' |
Singapore won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Thailand | 2–0 | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
| Teerasil 60' Theerathon 65' |
Thailand won 3–1 on aggregate.
Final
First leg
Second leg
Singapore won 3–2 on aggregate.
Awards
| 2012 AFF Championship champion |
|---|
| Singapore Fourth title |
| Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot | Fair Play Award |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Shahril Ishak | Thailand Teerasil Dangda | Malaysia Malaysia |
Player statistics
Discipline
In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches.
| Player | Offences | Suspensions |
|---|---|---|
| Indonesia Endra Prasetya | in Group B v Laos | Group B v Singapore |
| Laos Sopha Saysana | in Group B v Indonesia | Group B v Malaysia |
| Singapore Irwan Shah | in Group B v Indonesia | Group B v Laos |
| Thailand Pichitphong Choeichiu | in Group A v Philippines in Group A v Myanmar | Group A v Vietnam |
| Vietnam Âu Văn Hoàn | in Group A v Myanmar in Group A v Thailand | |
| Vietnam Lê Tấn Tài | in Group A v Philippines in Group A v Thailand | |
| Singapore Hariss Harun | in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v Indonesia | Group B v Laos |
| Indonesia Wahyu Wijiastanto | in Group B v Laos in Group B v Singapore | Group B v Malaysia |
| Indonesia Muhammad Taufiq | in Group B v Singapore in Group B v Malaysia | |
| Indonesia Oktovianus Maniani | in Group B v Singapore in Group B v Malaysia | |
| Thailand Arthit Sunthornpit | in Group A v Vietnam | Semi-finals (1st Leg) v Malaysia |
• Player who get a card during the semifinals and final doesn't include here.
Goalscorers
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Indonesia Andik Vermansyah
- Indonesia Raphael Maitimo
- Indonesia Vendry Mofu
- Laos Khonesavanh Sihavong
- Malaysia Azamuddin Akil
- Malaysia Khyril Muhymeen
- Malaysia Mahali Jasuli
- Malaysia Norshahrul Idlan
- Malaysia Safee Sali
- Malaysia Safiq Rahim
- Malaysia Wan Zack Haikal
- Myanmar Kyi Lin
- Philippines Emelio Caligdong
- Philippines Ángel Guirado
- Philippines Paul Mulders
- Philippines Phil Younghusband
- Singapore Aleksandar Đurić
- Singapore Baihakki Khaizan
- Singapore Fahrudin Mustafić
- Singapore Fazrul Nawaz
- Thailand Adul Lahsoh
- Thailand Anucha Kitpongsri
- Thailand Apipoo Suntornpanavej
- Thailand Jakkraphan Pornsai
- Thailand Theerathon Bunmathan
- Vietnam Lê Tấn Tài
- Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Quyết
Own goal
- Vietnam Nguyễn Gia Từ (playing against Thailand)
Team statistics
This table shows all team performance.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 |
| 2 | Thailand | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 |
| 3 | Philippines | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
| 4 | Malaysia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 |
| 6 | Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 |
| 7 | Laos | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 |
| 8 | Myanmar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 |