Dat hat-trick fires Viet Nam victory

Tran Van Dat scored a hat-trick. Hosts Viet Nam made a positive start to their 2016 Asian Football Confederation U-16 Championship qualifying campaign with a 5-1 win over Myanmar yesterday. 

Tran Van Dat scored a hat-trick and was voted man of the match.

His teammates Nguyen Huynh Sang and Nguyen Khac Khiem pocketed one goal each, both in the first half of the match.

Dat opened the scoring in the 25th minute before Khiem made it 2-0 for Viet Nam four minutes later.

Aung Chit Oo Koo Koo ensured that the two-goal advantage of the hosts lasted barely 60 seconds as the Myanmar forward reduced the deficit at the half-hour mark. But just three minutes later the Vietnamese extended their lead once again as Sang gave the home side a 3-1 cushion going into the break.

After the interval, Dat found the net in the 68th and 76th minutes to seal Viet Nam’s win and become the third player in Match Day 1 of Group J to score a hat-trick.

However, it was Australia who laid down the early marker with “The Joeys” hammering Guam 14-0 at the Viet Nam Youth Football Training Centre.

The more experienced Australians made it that little bit harder for the Pacific Ocean islanders when, just five minutes into the game, Xavier Naputi’s own goal gifted the Joeys an early lead.

Ten minutes after the unfortunate Guam midfielder’s error, Rahmat Akbari became the first Australian to get his name on the scoresheet before he was joined by skipper Antonios Martis (39th), Mirza Muratovic (43rd) and Jaidon Selden (45th) as a late flurry saw Tony Vidmar’s side take a 5-0 advantage into the half-time interval.

Akbari bagged his second barely 60 seconds after the break before Muratovic completed his hat-trick with goals in the 53rd and 59th minutes.

Ahmed Sweedan scored the second hat-trick for “The Joeys” in the 65th, 79th and 90th.

Andrew Visaglio and Ryan Yates netted one each before Selden pocketed his second before the end of the match.

Viet Nam, ranked second after the first group match, will meet Guam tomorrow while Myanmar will face leaders Australia.

Ten group winners and four best second-placed teams will join North Korea, who topped the already concluded Group H, and India in next year’s finals, with the tournament hosts receiving an automatic qualification.