HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s U19 team won the 2017 International U19 Football Tournament, which drew to a close in Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa Province, on Saturday.

Việt Nam defeated Gwangju of South Korea 2-0 in the final to emerge champions in the tournament.

Lê Xuân Nam and Lê Văn Nam scored goals to help Việt Nam triumph in the tournament, which drew the participation of five teams, including Hoàng Gia Lai, Gwangju, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar.

Việt Nam were in the attack mode as soon as the referee blew his whistle. However, in the first half, Việt Nam were unable to break the defence line of their rivals.

In extra time in the first half, Hữu Thuận was sent off after he was shown the yellow card for a second time.

After the break, Gwangju tried to exert pressure on Việt Nam; however, the hosts managed to play according to their tactics.

In the 69th minute, Việt Nam were awarded a penalty and Lê Văn Xuân made no mistake as he opened the score for Việt Nam, making it 1-0 in their favour.

Only four minutes later, Lê Văn Nam aimed his header past the Gwangju goalkeeper to double the score.

In the remaining time, the visitors made every effort to narrow the gap, but they failed.

“The Việt Nam team deserves the title, as it played very confidently and skilfully. The players have the potential, and I believe that they will be approached by clubs in the national premier league and the national teams,” said coach Vũ Hồng Việt of Việt Nam team.

Việt Nam walked away with the bonus of US$10,000 from the event’s organising board. The team also received a VNĐ100 million reward ($4,350) from the Việt Nam Football Federation and the Việt Nam Professional Football Joint Stock Company for their impressive performance.

Nguyễn Hữu Thắng of Việt Nam won the best player award and a $500 prize money.

In the third-place playoff match, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai crushed Myanmar 4-2 in the penalty shootout after drawing 1-1 in the official 90 minutes. — VNS