AFC U23 Championship: Vietnam wins a ticket to Qatar

AFC U23 Championship: Vietnam wins a ticket to Qatar Related image(s)

(CPV) - Thanks to Toshiya Miura’s students who trained to manage the ball obstacles during passes with high speed before netting the target from a distance of 20m, Vietnam are heading to Qatar for the AFC U23 Championship finals after crushing Macau 7-0 on March 31st. Aired live at 4pm on the K+ and VTV6 channels, it was their last Group I match at the Shah Alam stadium in Sepang, Malaysia. They finished second in the group with six points behind Japan, who defeated Malaysia 1-0 in the later game. The Japanese coach could not pick his favourite striker Vo Huy Toan, who had suffered a leg injury last week. After having a test, doctors said Toan was recovering well, but could not be part of the team. Toan had scored a goal during Vietnam’s 2-1 win over hosts Malaysia on March 27th. Miura said Vietnam had to be really careful because Macau has shown with their formance against Malaysia on March 29th that they are no pushovers. Rising stars Nguyen Cong Phuong and Thanh Binh scored a hat-trick each after Ho Ngoc Thang’s opener, using 3-4-3 formation. The 10 group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar at the AFC U23 Championship 2016, with January’s 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The final group winners and the complete line up of the best second-place teams will only be announced after the conclusion of Group B qualifiers, which feature Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan as well as hosts Pakistan. Group B was scheduled to take place at Lahore’s Punjab stadium from March 23rd – 31st, but has been postponed due to security concerns following the recent troubles in the Youhanabad area of the city. A decision on an alternative venue and schedule for Group B will be announced in due course. The current top five are Indonesia, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Myanmar. They all have six points each and a good goal difference. While Australia, the Republic of Korea, Syria, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and China have already qualified as top of their groups./.