Vietnam advance to the next round of AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup. (Photo: VNA) Both teams are level on seven points but Vietnam top thegroup due to their better goal difference.
Vietnam entered the tie only needing a draw but made to weatherstrong attacks from India, who had to win to advance.
Their strong attempts pushed them into the lead throughmidfielder Babina Devi's long straight shot in the 12th minute.
A stung Vietnam immediately went on the offensive but had to waittill first-half stoppage time for the equaliser, with Tran Nhat Landrawing them level.
In the second half, the hosts played better thanks to Ngoc Minh Chuyen,Luu Hoang Van and Ta Thi Thuy, who took turns pulling the Indian defence out ofshape. However, their attempts were not enough to score more goals.
India, on the other hand, tried desperately to find a second goal,especially in the last 15th minutes with long balls into Vietnam's box to theirstrikers, who could not overcome focused and firm defenders.
President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan congratulatedthe team and awarded them a bonus of 200 million VND (8,500 USD).
Speaking to reporters at the post-match press conference coachAkira Ijiri of Vietnam thanked the thousands of supporters who came andencouraged his team. He was surprised to see so many people come to the stadiumfor his team's debut at the tournament.
He said their encouragement played a key role in helping Vietnamget what they needed from the match against India. He confirmed that hisplayers would work harder in the second qualification round.
Captain Le Thi Bao Tram said she called on her teammates to beaware of India's preference for long balls.
Conceding an early goal put Tram and her teammates under pressure,but relaxed more when they found the equaliser.
Tram was also voted as the best player of the match.
Coach Maymol Rocky of India was dismayed his side could onlytake a point from the match.
“My players did a good job and scored the firstgoal," Rocky said, who was impressed with three players Lan, Thuyand Chuyen who made up Vietnamese brilliant qualification. "We triedhard to find more goals but some players made mistakes."
"We could not go on in this tournament but there is a longway to go to be better. We will plan friendly matches for the girls and try toplay well."
In the earlier match, Indonesia ended third after a 4-0 winover Singapore.
With both having lost their earlier matches, the tie at the VietTri Stadium was to avoid finishing bottom of the group.
Indonesia opened the scoring in the 11th minute through HelsyaMaeisyaroh.
It was a lead they were never in danger of losing as forwardMarsela Yuliana Awi doubled their advantage in the 37th minute.
Midfielder Liza scored Indonesia's third in the 67th minute withMarsela getting her second 11 minutes from the final whistle.
Indonesian Rudy Eka Priyambada shared that the team learnt a lotfrom this event and pointed out that Vietnam and India were much betterthan Indonesia.
He said his team needed time to prepare for the next tournamentand would definitely play better.
Meanwhile, Hew Seem Chris of Singapore found many weaknesses inher team, who conceded 22 goals without scoring.
She recognised the strength of Singapore's opponents and saidthey will have to train ahead of the AFF championship in June.
The draw for the second round of the qualifiers will be held afterthe completion of the first round on March 12, in KualaLumpur, Malaysia.
For the second round, scheduled from June 3-11, the eight teamswill be drawn into two groups of four teams.
The four best sides will earn a spot in the finals alongside thehighest seeds from the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019: championsJapan, the Democratic People Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and the hosts Uzbekistan on March 3-16, 2024./.
VNA
