Vietnamese players on October 23 beat Australian Sydney FC 4-1 in apenalty shootout to win the U21 International Thanh Nien Newspaper Cupin the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan.
The game started at a high tempo in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000at the Ninh Thuan Stadium. The first half saw blistering attacks fromthe two teams. Sky Blues had their opponents rattled early with constantpressing and closing down the Vietnamese players who relied on the longball to relieve the pressure.
Sydney FC wererewarded for their efforts just one minute from the break when a looseball in the penalty area was volleyed home by Joshua Macdonald from anangle for much deserved 1-0 lead at the break.
In the 2nd half, the game evened out as Vietnam kept looking to catchthe Sky Blues on the counter with quick ball transition in the midfieldand then long balls out wide into the channels. This strategy paid offin the 63rd minute when Nguyen Dinh Bao broke through the Sydney backline to level the score.
The score remainedunchanged until the final whistle and neither side could find a winnerin the end. With no extra time being played in the tournament the winnerwas decided from the penalty spot.
Vietnameseplayers were able to capitalise on all four penalties while theAustralian squad missed three shots after an initial goal.
Malaysia, who ranked third with five points, will take on Myanmar inthe third-place match. Myanmar are in fourth place with four points.
The annual tournament, organised by Thanh Nien (Young people)newspaper, plays in a round-robin format with the two top teams reachingthe final. This year’s competition featured five teams from Malaysia,Singapore, Myanmar, Australia, and Vietnam.-VNA
The game started at a high tempo in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000at the Ninh Thuan Stadium. The first half saw blistering attacks fromthe two teams. Sky Blues had their opponents rattled early with constantpressing and closing down the Vietnamese players who relied on the longball to relieve the pressure.
Sydney FC wererewarded for their efforts just one minute from the break when a looseball in the penalty area was volleyed home by Joshua Macdonald from anangle for much deserved 1-0 lead at the break.
In the 2nd half, the game evened out as Vietnam kept looking to catchthe Sky Blues on the counter with quick ball transition in the midfieldand then long balls out wide into the channels. This strategy paid offin the 63rd minute when Nguyen Dinh Bao broke through the Sydney backline to level the score.
The score remainedunchanged until the final whistle and neither side could find a winnerin the end. With no extra time being played in the tournament the winnerwas decided from the penalty spot.
Vietnameseplayers were able to capitalise on all four penalties while theAustralian squad missed three shots after an initial goal.
Malaysia, who ranked third with five points, will take on Myanmar inthe third-place match. Myanmar are in fourth place with four points.
The annual tournament, organised by Thanh Nien (Young people)newspaper, plays in a round-robin format with the two top teams reachingthe final. This year’s competition featured five teams from Malaysia,Singapore, Myanmar, Australia, and Vietnam.-VNA
