Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ulaanbaatar: Australia booked their place in the AFC U-16 Championship Malaysia 2018 with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam in their final Group I match, while Cambodia won 3-2 against Mongolia on Sunday.
Vietnam, on six points like Australia but with an inferior goal difference, had to win to secure a spot in next year's Finals.
Vietnam started the match brightly and controlled the game early in the first half.
But their long range attempts couldn’t test Australian goalkeeper Ahmad Taleb.
Australia looked dangerous with their counter attacks but an opening goal eluded them in the first half.
After the break, Australia began to play with more intensity and captain Tyson Savas opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the qualifiying tournament with a close range shot in the 62nd minute.
Ten minutes later, Australian midfielder Ryan Teague doubled their advantage with a free-kick.
Tristan Hammond, who was rested in their previous match against Cambodia, converted a penalty kick to make it 3-0 in the 79th minute.
Vietnam got a consolation from substitute forward Dau Ngoc Thanh, who scored in the 82nd minute.
Vu Hong Viet (Vietnam Head Coach)
“First, I want to congratulate Australia. This game was very crucial for both teams. We showed good performance in the first half, but in the second half, our defensive players loss their concentration. We lost mentally.”
Peter Cklamovski (Australia Head Coach)
“Vietnam was a very difficult opponent. They played really hard and made it challenging. We have improved in the last few months, and we did a good job today. As a team, we have progressed very well every day. We look forward to building and preparing the team, as we aim to win next year’s final tournament.”
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