HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has secured their ticket to the final of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s U19 Championship next year.

Coach Mai Đức Chung had earlier expressed his concern about his inexperienced team playing against stronger rivals.

Yet his team played their best in both matches on home turf at the Việt Nam Football Federation’s Youth Training Centre field.

Việt Nam, hosts of Group D in the qualification stage, pocketed their second win yesterday, beating Iran 2-0.

Nguyễn Thị Nụ opened the score eight minutes after the interval before her teammate Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Ngân added another in the additional time. It was Ngân’s third goal at the event.

Last week, she scored a double in the host’s 4-0 victory over India in the opening match of the group.

Taking nearly 30 minutes to check their rival, the Vietnamese side opened the score at the 35th mark.

Ngân converted a penalty into the first goal, with a shot to the left corner. She doubled the advantage near the end of the first half.

In the second half, coach Chung made several changes, but his team maintained its domination.

Nguyễn Thị Nụ netted her goal at the 83rd minute, ending all hope of the Indian squad, which created more attacks, but were not sharp enough to earn a single goal. 

Midfielder Hà Thị Nhài increased Việt Nam’s scoring with her goal in the first added minute when the Indian team gave up.

With six points after two wins, Việt Nam topped the group and bagged the only ticket to the final round of the continental tournament in China.

Việt Nam is the second team to qualify, following Uzbekistan, who secured their berth last month. Australia has also found their ticket, after wins over Northern Mariana Islands and Jordan in group A.

The winners of the Group C will be announced after actions organised next month.

They will join the top four teams in last year’s edition – Japan, North Korea, South Korea and China – who received a direct qualification to the tournament. — VNS