PHNOM PENH (12 July 2016) – Vietnam were in fiery form on the second match day of Group A of the AFF Smart Under-16 Championship when they bashed Australia 3-0 to take firm control of the top spot.
The second full points today were their second in as many matches following their comfortable 3-0 victory over Malaysia two days earlier.
And under the afternoon heat at the National Olympic Stadium, Vietnam were all business as they pressed Australia on the get go before earning an 18th minute penalty after Nguyen Huynh Sang was brought down by Adrian Valenti inside the box.
Uong Ngoc Tien had little difficulty to convert when he sent Australian keeper Nicholas Suman the wrong way.
Ten minutes later, Tran Van Dat doubled the advantage when he came in from the far post to finish things off after an earlier attempt from Nguyen Khac Khiem was blocked.
Australia shored up their defence after that as they look to get back into the game but the Vietnam defence stood firm through centrebacks Nguyen Xuan Khiem and Vu Quang Do.
A 78th minute mistake from Suman when he mistimed his kick allowed Khac Khiem to punish Australia further as he slotted home into an empty goal.
“It was a good team effort and to beat Australia with such a scoreline showed real commitment from the players,” said Vietnam coach Dinh The Nam.
With Vietnam in confident mode, Myanmar showed that they are ready to challenge for top spot when they sidestepped Singapore 4-1.
Fast paced although at times a little scrappy, Myanmar brushed aside Singapore with relative ease when they raced to a 3-0 lead at the break off goals from Aung Wanna Soe (13th an 40th minute) and Win Naing Tun (42nd).
Several substitutions into the second half, saw Myanmar taking it a little easier before Ye Yint Aung added the fourth goal of the game.
Singapore pulled a goal back deep in injury time through Mohamed Daniel Mohamad Azlan for the final scoreline.
“We are just looking at one game at a time. It is good that we win as this will put us in the right frame of mind for the next match (against Vietnam),” added Nyi Nyi Latt.
In the meantime, Malaysia stumbled to a disappointing 2-2 draw with the Philippines to put their campaign for a place in the semi-finals in jeopardy.
After two matches and after their loss to Vietnam in the first game, the Malaysians have only picked up one point.
And this evening, despite the bright start when Malaysia took the lead off Muhammad Alif Safwan Sallahuddin at the half hour mark, they allowed the Philippines to make a comeback when the latter scored twice through Fidel Tacardon in the 34th minute and Robert Wilson (44th) for the 2-1 lead at the break.
But just a minute into the second half, Malaysia drew level when Alif Safwan was again on target for both teams to share the spoil.
RESULTS
GROUP A
Philippines 2 Malaysia 2
Vietnam 3 Australia 0
Singapore 1 Myanmar 4
FIXTURES – 13 July 2016
GROUP B
(All matches at the National Olympic Stadium)
1530: Timor Leste vs Thailand
1830: Brunei vs Cambodia
Vietnam (in all red) vs Australia (in all yellow)
Myanmar (in all white) vs Singapore (in all red)
Philippines (in all white) vs Malaysia (in yellow/black)
