Vietnam make semifinals of regional U-19 championship

NDO/VNA—Vietnam beat Malaysia 3-1 in the last match of Group A at the ASEAN Football Federation Vietcombank U19 Youth Championship, held on September 19 in Hanoi.

U-19 Vietnam (white) advance as Group A leaders.
U-19 Vietnam (white) advance as Group A leaders.

After four matches, Vietnam top Group A with ten points. Timor Leste, who defeated Singapore 2-0 in a match played at the same time, are second with nine points. Malaysia are third with six points, followed by Singapore with four points and the Philippines with zero points.

The group’s two best teams, Vietnam and Timor Leste, qualified for the semi-finals.

Vietnam only needed a draw against Malaysia to reach the semi-finals, so Vietnam’s coach Hoang Anh Tuan asked his players to play it safe.

In the 13th minute of the match, Nguyen Duy Khanh scored the opening goal for Vietnam.

After that, the visitors attacked, heaping pressure on the Vietnamese, but failing to equalise the score.

In the 81st minute, from a cross from Ho Minh Di, Doan Van Hau headed past the Malaysian goalkeeper to double the score.

After the second goal, Vietnam took their foot off the gas, allowing Malaysia to score, narrowing the gap to 1-2 in the 90th minute.

During extra time, Nguyen Tien Linh broke the offside trap to slot home and seal the result for Vietnam.

Vietnam’s rival in the semi-final match will be decided after the last round of Group B on September 20.

The final will take place two days later.