Sierra Leone's U-20s hope of reaching the finals of the Merdeka Cup Football Tournament was dashed yesterday after they suffered a 2-3 defeat on penalties to Vietnam Olympic Squad.

According to reports, the Sierra Leone squad gave the Vietnamese a difficult time which saw the match ending in a 2-2 draw in the 90 minutes play.

Referee Mohd Nafeez Abdul Wahab pushed the game to extra time but both sides failed to find the net but the Vietnamese were the lucky side winning on post game penalties.

Sierra Leone dominated the match in the early hours which saw Mohamed Kabbia opening the score line in the 39th minutes and Dwight Foray doubled in the 68th minutes.

The Vietnamese team came back strongly and cut the deficit in the 72nd minutes through Trinh Quang Vinh goal before the score was leveled in the 81st minutes when Nguyen Duc Thien scored.

The trio of Mumino Khomson Kamara, Mohamed Kabbia and Mamadu Lajor Bah missed their spot kick which earned the Vietnamese a vctory.

With no fixture for third place, the Sierra Leone squad are expected in Freetown on Wednesday.

SIERRA LEONE Team: Lansana Jalloh, Dwight Foray, Alfree Sanu, Gibrilla Fofanah, Salifu Samura, Mumino Khomson Kamara, Alusine Turay, Mohamed Kabbia, Sulaiman Kamara (Lahai Freeman Chandus), Amara Kamara, Mamadu Lajor Bah