HCMC – Vietnam won the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U-16 Championships title after beating China 1-0 in the final in Indonesia on Sunday, while East Timor won third place after trouncing host Indonesia 2-0 earlier in the day.
Vietnam’s coach Hoang Van Phuc was confident before taking on China in the final game as his team had won by one goal over China in the opener.
The Vietnamese placed pressure on the China defending lines from the start and they dominated the game in the first half but couldn’t convert.
The Vietnamese in the crowd waited till the 44th minute to celebrate, when Van Nam took a kick in the penalty box beating the Chinese goalie.
Coach Phuc made some strategic changes in the second half to play more defensively and rely on rare counter attacks.
Neither Vietnam nor China looked like scoring throughout the last half, despite some strong China attacks.
It was the third victory of the national U-16 football squad in the tournament. Vietnam had earned a 1-0 victory over China in the opener, 1-0 win over Indonesia in the second game and a 1-2 loss to East Timor in the third game.
The Vietnamese team included the best seven players from Danang U-17 team, the champions of the national U-17 football championship. The rest were from the 10 clubs around the country including Song Lam Nghe An, Hanoi T&T and Hoa Phat Hanoi.
The U-16 teams of Vietnam, China, East Timor, and hosts Indonesia competed in the tournament from September 20 to 26 in Indonesia.
Vietnam beats 10-man China in AFF U16 opener