>> Suffering 2-3 loss to Japan, Vietnam to face Myanmar in semi-final
The hosts kick started the match in a high battling spirit and with strong determination, targeting to avenge their bitter 3-4 final loss to the Burmese team at the 2014 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy football tournament in Brunei last month.
U-19 Vietnam seized a good chance to open the scoring after just three minutes, but Quang Hai failed to beat Myanmar goalkeeper, Myo Min Latt in a face-to-face.
Van Long continued threatening the Burmese goal with a 22nd-minute long-range strike that regretfully hit the cross bar following Min Latt’s block.
The hosts’ unceasing attacking efforts finally paid off with an opener in the 31st minute as Tuan Anh drove a beautiful curler from outside the 16m50 area towards the right top corner of the Myanmar goal, which failed every blocking effort by the Burmese keeper.
Xuan Truong managed to double Vietnam’s lead with a powerful free-kick eight minutes later, wrapping up the first half with a two-goal advantage in Vietnam’s favour.
The first-half scenario continued in the second as the host team maintained their absolute domination. A few minutes after the break, Cong Phuong chipped a delightful pass to Van Toan, who then drove the ball past Myanmar keeper into the empty net and made it 3-0 for Vietnam.
Aung Thu pulled back a goal for U-19 Myanmar in the 54th minute, only to see his team’s hopes at resurgence extinguished by Vietnam’s fourth goal, scored by Van Long four minutes after the hour mark.
The 4-1 victory allowed U-19 Vietnam to resume their meeting with U-19 Japan in the final match on Saturday. The Japanese team booked their final place after beating U-19 Thailand 2-1 the first semifinal earlier the same day.
