Strong performance: Vietnam’s U19 women celebrate their first victory at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Women’s Championship. (Source: thethao247.vn)Hanoi (VNA)- Vietnam’s U19 women football team enjoyed its first victory after defeating Malaysia2-1 in the first qualifying round of Group E at the Asian FootballConfederation (AFC) U19 Women’s Championship, held in Hanoi on October 24.
Tipped as thefavourites, Vietnam piled on the pressure from the opening whistle.
Surprisingly, Malaysiascored the first goal in the middle of the first half after a counter-attackfrom the right corner of the field.
Vietnam ended the firsthalf in confusion. However, at the 59th minute, receiving a pass, Tuyet Nganovertook her rival and aimed high, equalising for Vietnam.
Feeling freshmotivation, Vietnam went on the attack and found a winner just 10 minutes later.After a pass from the left corner of the field, Nguyen Thi Hoa showed up justin time and scored one more goal for Vietnam.
With this victory, Vietnamhad a smooth start in the qualifying round of the tournament.
Speaking at a press conference on October 23,head coach Mai Duc Chung said Vietnam’s women football team is resolved to passthe qualifier round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Women’sChampionship.
Chung said the Vietnamese team consists of youngplayers from 16 to 18 years old, some of whom have participated ininternational competitions.
He said all teams in Group E are making progressand stated that the Vietnamese players will play with their best in order toadvance to the next round.
The qualifiers of Group E is taking place in thecapital city of Hanoi from October 24-28 with teams from Jordan, Singapore,Malaysia, and Vietnam competing. Host Vietnam will then playSingapore on October 26, and Jordan on October 28.
The AFC U19 Women’s Championship qualifying roundconsists of 27 teams, including the hosts of the event’s final round, Thailand.They are divided into six groups and will play in a round-robin format in thegroup stage to decide winners and two best second-placed teams. The top eightteams of the first qualifier round will progress to the second round, where thefour top teams will then advance to the finals, together with Japan, theDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea, China, and Thailand.–VNA
VNA
