Thứ Ba, 22/09/2015, 05:47 (GMT+7)

Vietnam secure ticket to 2016 AFC U16 finals

The Vietnam U16 squad have officially secured a ticket to the final round of the Asian Football Confederation U16 Championship next year among the top four second-placed teams.

Vietnam have qualified for the 2016 AFC U16 Championship as 1st runners-up.

In the last match of Group J qualifiers in Hanoi on September 20, Vietnam lost 0-1 to Australia and were pushed into second place.

Defender Mersim Memeti opened the scoring in the 30th minute for the Joeys as a result of the visitors’ domination of the ball, better form and stronger physique.

The hosts strengthened attacks in the second half in attempts to score an equaliser. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the U16’s Vietnam squad failed to score as the bar twice reflected shots on goal, including Ngoc Tien’s penalty shot in the 61st minute and Xuan Chung’s strike in the 72nd minute.

The only goal secured Australia’s position as group winner of the finals, leaving Vietnam in second place. The hosts must wait until all matches of the qualifiers have been completed to learn if they are among the best four second-place squads.

According to the results, Vietnam have qualified for the final tournament in India next year as the 1st best runners-up.

Among the 16 teams competing in the tournament, Vietnam along with Malaysia (Group G winners) and Thailand (2nd best runners-up) are the only representatives of South East Asia.

The following are the 16 teams officially qualified for the finals: India (hosts), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (defending champions), Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Uzbekistan, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.

The final round of the biennial youth football tournament will be played between September 15 and October 2 next year in India. The four semi-finalists of the tournament will qualify for the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup also to be hosted by the South Asian country.

This is the first time Vietnam have secured a ticket to the finals of the tournament after two consecutive years of absences in 2012 and 2014. Vietnam’s best performance yet in the competition was at the semifinals in 2000.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)