Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Viet Nam’s U19 team won the 2017 International U19 Football Tournament, which drew to a close in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, on Saturday.
Viet Nam defeated Gwangju of South Korea 2-0 in the final to emerge champions in the tournament.
Le Xuan Nam and Le Van Nam scored goals to help Viet Nam triumph in the tournament, which drew the participation of five teams, including Hoang Gia Lai, Gwangju, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar.
Viet Nam were in the attack mode as soon as the referee blew his whistle. However, in the first half, Viet Nam were unable to break the defence line of their rivals.
In extra time in the first half, Huu Thuan was sent off after he was shown the yellow card for a second time.
After the break, Gwangju tried to exert pressure on Viet Nam; however, the hosts managed to play according to their tactics.
In the 69th minute, Viet Nam were awarded a penalty and Le Van Xuan made no mistake as he opened the score for Viet Nam, making it 1-0 in their favour.
Only four minutes later, Le Van Nam aimed his header past the Gwangju goalkeeper to double the score.
In the remaining time, the visitors made every effort to narrow the gap, but they failed.
“The Viet Nam team deserves the title, as it played very confidently and skilfully. The players have the potential, and I believe that they will be approached by clubs in the national premier league and the national teams,” said coach Vu Hong Viet of Viet Nam team.
Viet Nam walked away with the bonus of US$10,000 from the event’s organising board. The team also received a VND100 million reward ($4,350) from the Viet Nam Football Federation and the Viet Nam Professional Football Joint Stock Company for their impressive performance.
Nguyen Huu Thang of Viet Nam won the best player award and a $500 prize money.
In the third-place playoff match, Hoang Anh Gia Lai crushed Myanmar 4-2 in the penalty shootout after drawing 1-1 in the official 90 minutes. — VNS