Under-17s in Southeast Asian last four

A winner headed by Nguyen Ngoc Long four minutes into the second half sent defending champions Vietnam to the semi-final of the ASEAN Football Federation”s (AFF) under-17 championship in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The under-17s edged out Myanmar with a 1-0 victory on August 24. This was their back-to-back win. Earlier they beat Singapore 2-0.

SI have to congratulate the players for the win even though they did not play well in the first half,⬝ Vietnam head coach Dinh Hong Vinh was quoted by the ASEAN Football Federation”s website as saying.

SIt was a close match, so it was important for us to win the game to put us in the next round of the championship,⬝ Mr Vinh added.

It was a tight game with few chances in the first half. The Myanmar side had the first opportunity after 31 minutes when Kaung Htet Aung floated in a cross but Myo Kyaw failed to connect it.

Two minutes later, Zaw Lin Htet”s finish was too easy for Vietnam keeper Tran Van Phu.

Vietnam“s best effort went to Nguyen Dinh Loi, who blasted in from the edge of the box only to see it was blocked by Myanmar defender Thet Paing Soe.

Four minutes after the restart, Vietnam grabbed the lead when Ngoc Long headed in a corner from Huynh Van Thanh.

Myanmar tried to return to the game but just could not crack a solid Vietnamese defence.

In an earlier match, Laos trounced Singapore 4-0 in their first match in Group B with a hat-trick by Sopha Saysana alongside a goal by Souksavanh Bouttakhot.

– Nhan Dan –