Hà Châu Phi (2) celebrating his opening goal. — Photo VFF

Anh Đức

BEKASI — Việt Nam U19s defeated Brunei 4-0 in their third game of the 2022 AFF U19s Championship in Bekasi on Wednesday.

Coach Đinh Thế Nam's team of youngsters dominated the match and found goals through Hà Châu Phi and Nguyễn Đức Việt, as well as a brace from Nguyễn Giản Tân.

Việt Nam were down to 10 men in the last 10 minutes of the match, after keeper Hồ Tùng Hân handled outside the box, but stayed strong and kept a clean sheet.

Facing a dismal Brunei that has conceded 14 goals in their last two matches against Indonesia and Myanmar, Nam chose to rest key players Khuất Văn Khang and Nguyễn Văn Trường and grant chances to reserves such as Tùng Hân and Giản Tân.

It took only 12 minutes for Việt Nam to open the scoreline when Thái Văn Thảo's corner found Châu Phi at the far post. The right-back, whose name translates into English as "Africa", easily overpowered his opponent to tap in his first-ever goal for Việt Nam U19s.

The Vietnamese then seemed to lose concentration and gave the ball away easily to the Bruneians, with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai's Nguyễn Đức Việt mostly at fault.

Brunei couldn't seem to capitalise and conceded a second goal in the 33rd minute when Văn Thảo again crossed for Giản Tân, who got the ball over the line and doubled Việt Nam's lead.

Việt Nam started the second half slowly in the first 10 minutes to conserve energy before increasing the pace from the 55th minute.

Văn Thảo, with a man of the match performance, gave his third assist of the match and granted Giản Tân his brace in the 59th minute.

Only four minutes later, Đức Việt silenced his critics with a wonderful long-range strike into the top corner after the ball rebounded off the Bruneian defence.

Suffering from fatigue, Brunei gave up, and multiple chances came to the men in red. A consolation goal for them seemed unimaginable, given the total pressure and possession that Việt Nam had.

That is until Việt Nam's keeper Tùng Hân handled the ball outside the box after a poor backpass from his teammate. The young keeper protested, but the referee was decisive and brandished Hân with a straight red.

Brunei pushed forward and made Việt Nam's 10 men work hard in the match's final minutes. Việt Nam also got chances on the counter, but no more goals were scored.

With this result, Việt Nam temporarily took the lead in Group A with 7 points before Thailand and hosts Indonesia face off later on Wednesday. Brunei are eliminated and share the same fate as the Philippines who lost 3-1 to Myanmar earlier.

Having only scored four against the bottom team, Coach Nam is at a disadvantage should it come to tiebreakers against the remaining teams in Group A.

Việt Nam have two days to rest before facing Myanmar in Jakarta on Friday, and a win will secure their place in the semis. — VNS