Viet Nam’s U21 team yesterday beat Sydney’s U21 FC 4-1 in a penalty shootout to win the international U21 football championships in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan.

Joshua broke the deadlock just one minute from the break with Nguyen Dinh Bao evening the score at the 64th minute. The score remained unchanged until the final whistle, forcing the match to a penalty shootout.

Vietnamese players were able to capitalise on all four penalties while the Australian squad missed three shots after an initial goal.

A confident Viet Nam entered the final on the back of a 5-1 win over Malaysia in the final match of the group stage, while Sydney U21 FC looked to add to their 4-0 victory over Viet Nam in the group stages.

The first half saw blistering attacks from two teams.

Joshua put Australia ahead in the 44th minute with a volley set up on the right flank, with the score unchanged at halftime.

Viet Nam turned over a new leaf in the second half equaling the score at the 64th minute as Nguyen Dinh Bao rushing towards the goal to level the score.

(Source: VNS)