Australia and Thailand went through to the final of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U-19 Championships after beating Vietnam and Malaysia in the semifinals at Hochiminh City’s Thong Nhat Stadium Monday.
Australia defeated hosts Vietnam 4-1 after the Thais won Malaysia 1-0.
Vietnam entered the semi-finals as the leaders of group B after three wins over Malaysia (2-0), Myanmar (3-1) and East Timor (3-1).
Meanwhile Australia placed second in group A with five points after two draws against Thailand and Singapore, before beating Cambodia 3-0 in the final match.
Before the Vietnam vs. Australia game, experts said the hosts would face a fitness problem in front of the stronger Australians, who had one day more than Vietnam to rest after the group matches.
It was the case during the Monday match. The two teams drew 1-1 in the first half.
After the break, midfielder Daniel pushed Australia ahead with a goal in the 70th minute. The hosts started losing their fitness and their opponents dominated the game. James Virgil scored the third goal for Australia 10 minutes later and Grunewald finished the game with another goal in the injury time.
At Thong Nhat Stadium on Wednesday, Vietnam will take on Malaysia for the third place at 3:30 pm and Australia will play Thailand in the final at 5:45 pm.
The tournament drew eight teams namely Australia, Cambodia, East Timor, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Football Association of Australia is a member of the ASEAN Football Federation.
