Football

Striker Ngọc Minh Chuyên of Việt Nam (left) in action during the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup match between Việt Nam and China. — Photo the-afc.com

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam managed to find the back of the next at the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup, but lost the match 6-1 against China on March 10 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The goal completed the Southeast Asian mission at the youth tournament where they faced strongest rivals of the continent.

After a 10-0 loss to Japan in the first match, coach Akira Ijiri said his players would fight to have at least one complementary goal in the final two group matches.

They failed in the 6-0 loss to North Korea but striker Ngọc Minh Chuyên did manage to find the net at the Do'stlik Stadium.

Dangerous Chuyên, the national best youth player of 2023, took a long ball and left two Chinese players in her wake to beat Liu Chen in the 75th minute.

China went ahead with three goals in the 11th minute by Yu Jiaqi, 15th minute by Lu Jiayu and 17th minute by Xia Lejiao.

In the second half, Việt Nam managed to recover their composure and started pushing further up the field using the pace of forward Chuyên who had two threatening opportunities but could not score.

Midfielder Vũ Thị Hoa also nearly scored but her finish from close range went wide.

China, in a race to take second place in Group B, increased the tempo and added three more goals through Lu (76th), Yu (80th) and Huo Yuexin (81st) to end their campaign on a high.

Despite winning, China missed out on the semi-finals as in the same time match North Korea beat defending champions Japan 1-0.

Watching the young players on the field, former national striker Đỗ Thị Ngọc Châm said: "Việt Nam played better in the second half. Players showed their confidence and effort, leading to more opportunities. And they scored a beautiful goal by Minh Chuyên.

"I see positive progress for our young girls. The more they play, the more lessons they learn." Trâm said. VNS