A cruel equaliser against the run of play denied Hong Kong what would have been a thoroughly deserved victory over Vietnam in the SAR's final Asian Games warmup at the Mongkok Stadium last night. Vo Hoang Bun's magnificent curling low strike from 20 yards cancelled out Hong Kong substitute Yeung Hei-chi's 58th minute opener, frustrating Sebastiao Araujo's team's hopes of notching a morale-boosting win before they head to Bangkok next week. Even so, Hong Kong will head to Thailand in good heart after another performance of character and confidence, which augurs well for local football. A mark of how well Hong Kong played could be found in remarks made by Vietnam's Austrian coach Alfred Riedl. 'At the end of the game we have to be happy with a 1-1 scoreline . . . but I don't think the Hong Kong coach will be too happy because they created so many chances that they could have won easily,' Riedl said. 'I thought Hong Kong played very well. 'The pace of their game in the first half was very fast and they had us under a lot of pressure for a long time. 'I wasn't too worried because I knew they would not be able to play at that pace for the entire game,' Riedl added. For Araujo, the difference between the two sides was summed up in one word: finishing. 'Look at the way they scored their goal. It was a very good goal . . . he shot low and in the corner. 'You get that from playing with experience. We had the chances but couldn't score more,' he said. Araujo was anything but downbeat after the result, however. 'Look at their ranking and look at ours. They are 12th in the Asian rankings and we are 26th but you saw tonight that there is not such a big difference between us. 'The biggest difference is that they have more games at international level,' Araujo added. Although Riedl made reference to the pace of Hong Kong's game, it was Vietnam who dictated play for the opening 10 minutes. At times they threatened to overrun the home team and if Van Sy Hung's seventh minute header had gone in instead of flying wide, Hong Kong might well have crumpled. Once they adjusted to the pace of the game though, it was Vietnam who found themselves firmly on the backfoot as Hong Kong swarmed forward in attack. Poon Man-chun perhaps should have done better on 15 minutes when his shot from six yards hit the bar. Hong Kong continued to create chance after chance, and rightback Yau Kin-wai caught the eye with some elusive attacking forays down the flank. Vietnam did provide the odd reminder of their attacking capabilities and Trien Quang Ha saw a ripping low shot crash off the foot of the left-hand upright. Hong Kong's lively attacking play got the reward it deserved 13 minutes after half-time when Yeung, a substitute for Poon, met a deep cross from Lo Kai-wah at the far post to slot home. That ought to have sealed it but seven minutes later Vo burst into space and cracked in the equaliser. Hong Kong had chances to win late in the game, and Yeung thought he had scored a dramatic injury-time winner when he chested down a cross and volleyed in only to be ruled off-side. More soccer - Page 26