The loss means Australia,the group leader, qualified for the next stage and also the tournament’sfinal round, while Vietnam, the second-placed team, haveto await the results of other group matches, ifthey want to play in the finals in Malaysia next year.
Thequalification matches will end on September 29.
[Asian U16 qualifier: VN beat Mongolia 9-0]
Vietnam controlled the gameearly in the first half, but their long-range attempts could not getpast Australian goalkeeper Ahmad Taleb.
However, Australiascored three goals thanks to the mistakes made by theVietnamese defenders in the second half.Captain Tyson Savas openedthe score with his seventh goal of the tournament in the 62nd minute.Midfielder Ryan Teague doubled their advantage with a free kick 10 minutes later.
Tristan Hammond converted apenalty kick to make it 3-0 in the 79th minute.
Vietnam’s only goal went tosubstitute forward Dau Ngoc Thanh, who scored in the 82nd minute.
After the match, coachPeter Cklamovski of Australia admitted Vietnam was a difficultopponent. They played really hard and made it challenging for us, headded.
He saidAustralia had improved in the last few months, and hisplayers had done a good job yesterday. They aimto win next year’s final tournament, he added.
On the other side, coach VuHong Viet of Vietnam congratulated Australia.
He said Vietnam displayed good football inthe first half, but in the second half, their defence lostconcentration leading to the team’s defeat.-VNA