A second-half brace by Safee Sali helped Malaysia overcome defending champions Vietnam 2-0 in the first leg of their 2010 Suzuki Cup semifinal Wednesday night. Spurred on by their vociferous home support at the Bukit Jalil stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia put themselves in a strong position to progress to the final, something they haven’t achieved since the inaugural edition in 1996 when they lost 1-0 to Thailand. The teams now head to Hanoi to play the second leg tomorrow at 7pm.