By Vu Duc - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – Australia won the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) U-19 Championships 2010 title after beating Thailand 1-0 in the finals at HCMC’s Thong Nhat Stadium while South Korea won third place when they beat hosts Vietnam 7-6 in penalty shoot-out on Friday.
Starting quickly, Australia began the first half with relentless attacks and pressure on the Thai defensive line but their forwards wasted chances.
After the break, the Thai side dominated, but missed good opportunities. Substitute Al Babalj surprised when he scored the only goal for the Australian side in the 82nd minute.
Australia had gone into the final game following a 4-1 win over host Vietnam in their final game of the qualifying round on Wednesday. Earlier, Australia beat South Korea 1-0 in the openers and drew 1-1 with Thailand on Monday.
Thailand finished the qualifying round as runners-up with three draws, Thailand tied 1-1 with hosts Vietnam in the openers, 1-1 with Australia on Monday and goalless with South Korea on Wednesday.
In an earlier game the same day, South Korea beat hosts Vietnam 7-6 in the penalty shoot-out, securing third place. The Korean team won the Fair Play award.
The visitors dominated the possession from the beginning while the home side relied on sporadic counter attacks. South Korea took the lead just ten minutes into the game when defender Phan Luu The Son made his own goal while trying to clear the ball in the penalty area.
After the score, the Vietnamese side pressed heavily with their forwards wreaking havoc on the Korean defense and Ngo Hoang Thinh leveled for his team in the 55th minute after receiving the ball from Le Quoc Phuong.
Scoring chances resulted from strong attacks by both sides, but neither side capitalized, leaving the score at 1-1 upon the referee’s whistle.
After drawing 1-1 at the end of full time, the teams went to a penalty shootout, with South Korea succeeding on seven of their seven shots. Vietnam just netted six times.
The AFF U-19 Championships took place in HCMC from July 22 to 30 at Thong Nhat Stadium. The tournament drew four teams comprising Thailand, South Korea, Australia and hosts Vietnam.