Bắc giang
Bao Toan’s solitary goal steers Vietnam U23s to overall trophy
It was a well-deserved reward for coach Dinh The Nam’s side who overcame numerous difficulties throughout the tournament in order to live up to home fans’ expectations.
 |
|
Vietnamese players celebrate after Bao Toan opens the scoring late in the first half. |
The opening minutes saw an evenly contested game with tit-for-tat attempts from the two sides.
Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Tuan Hung saved Thanawut Phochai’s shot in a one-on-one after eight minutes. Nine minutes later, Vo Nguyen Hoang threatened the Thai side with a header going wide.
Thailand should have gone ahead in the 25th minute, but Thanawut Phochai’s low drive from around 25 metres was denied by the post.
Salvador Garcia’s side then missed two other chances to break the deadlock as Kroekphon’s volley (29’) and Chonnapat’s header (35’) went off target.
Shortly later, keeper Tuan Hung showed a high level of focus, rescuing the Vietnamese side by parrying Thanawat’s long-range strike over the bar.
On the stroke of halftime, Thai goalkeeper Narongsak worked hard to repel a right-footed curler by Dung Quang Nho on the left flank. However, he could do nothing but stayed flat-footed seconds later as Tran Bao Toan matched Trung Thanh’s cross with an unstoppable header to hand Vietnam a 1-0 lead going into the interval.
It was Vietnam who started the second half better, with Vo Nguyen Hoang failing to beat Narongsak in a one-one-one twice.
Both teams made several substitutions and created a number of opportunities to score during the remainder of the match, but none of them were successfully converted.
The 1-0 score remained unchanged until the last whistle, but the result was enough to help Vietnam U23s crowned the champions of the tournament for the first time.
Source: NDO
Reader's comments (0)