Hai Huy (L) and Hoang Thinh score for Vietnam’s under-19 team in their match against China’s U21 squad

China’s U21 squad won the International Under-21 Football Tournament 2009 after beating Vietnam’s U19 team 4-2 in the finals in Binh Duong on Sunday.

The young Vietnamese footballers started the match with confidence and high spirits despite a 3-4 defeat to China in the group stage.

They were on equal terms with the more experienced visitors until China’s Tan Tiancheng scored two goals after the 20 minute mark.

However, the home team didn’t lose heart. They kept attacking and their persistence resulted in a Hoang Thinh goal three minutes from the break before Hai Huy scored the equalizer two minutes later.

After the interval, China used its height advantage to launch air passes that caused much trouble for the home team.

Both teams had plenty of chances but the home team failed to convert any. Then Yihui scored the third goal for China 15 minutes from time. Tiancheng dug the last part of Vietnam’s grave by completing his hat-trick just before the final whistle.

The Chinese team takes home the championship title along with a US$10,000 cash prize from the organizers and another $5,000 from Dai Nam Tourist Site.

Tiancheng led the tournament in scoring with four goals while China’s Teng Shangkun was chosen as the event’s best goalkeeper. They were each awarded cash prizes of $500.

Midfielder Van Quyet of Vietnam’s U19 squad won the Best Player of the Tournament title and $500.

The Vietnamese U19s won $7,000 as the runners-up. They also received $4,000 from Dai Nam Tourist Site and VND150 million ($8,400) from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

Vietnam’s U21 team won the third place after beating Singapore 2-1 and received $5,000 from the organizers, $3,000 from Dai Nam Touriste Site, VND100 million ($5,600) from VFF and VND50 million ($2,800) from Thanh Nien newspaper – the sponsor of the competition.

Reported by Anh Tuan