Vietnam came from behind to post a 3-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan and march into the quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship here today.
Vietnam have made the last eight stage of the tournament from Group B, along with Japan.
The match today started with Kyrgyzstan taking an early lead in the 6th minute through Alykulov Gulzhigit before Vietnam fought back to restore parity.
Nguyen Khac Khiem scored the equaliser for Vietnam in the 20th minute before substitutes -- Vu Dinh Hai (80th) and Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong (88th) -- helped the team seal a place in the quarterfinals with late goals.
Having finished second with six points from three matches in Group B, Vietnam will now play against Iran on September 25th, while Japan will clash with UAE on the same day.
Both Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam were on three points each from two games before the start of this match and needed a win to advance to the next round.
Kyrgyzstan started off in the right earnest and took the lead very early to make their intentions clear. Gulzhigit, who got the ball from the middle from Shigaibaev, essayed a controlled shot from inside the box that found the far corner of the net.
However, Vietnam were quick to make inroad into the rival citadel and kept on probing and managed to find the equaliser in the 20th minute. Nguyen Huu Thang, who took the free kick, relayed the ball to Ngyen Xuan Kien whose volley from inside the box hit the cross bar and off the rebound Nguyen Khac Khiem tapped the ball into the net from close.
Thereafter, it was a midfield affairs with both the teams making efforts to surge ahead. Kyrgyzstan midfielder Shigaibaev Emir tried to clear the cross from the right but Nguyen Huynh shot the ball into its own net in haste following a corner but was ruled off side by the referee Khamis Mohamed K A Al-Kuwari.
The teams went into half time tied 1-1.
The second half saw both making efforts to score a goal but defence of the two teams did well to keep the slate clean until a costly error by Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper allowed a high ball taken by substitute Vu Dinh Hai from a 35th yard shot to slip from his hands and enter the net in the 80th minute.
Substitute Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong then extended the lead further as he netted the ball in the 88th minute and ensured that Vietnam advance in the competition.
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In another match at Bambolim, Japan thrashed already eliminated Australia 6-0 to top Group B with an all-win record and storm into the quarterfinals.
Japan now meet United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals.
Japan took the lead inside five minutes through Soichiro Kozuki but could not increase the margin till the break.
The two-time winners, who had already posted scorelines of 7-0 and 8-0 in their previous Group B fixtures, raised their game in the second half to pump in five more goals without response.
Taisei Miyashiro and Gijo Sehata netted before the hour-mark, after which Nagi Matsumoto thumped home a sublime finish before Kozuki completed his double in the 83rd minute. Substitute Akito Tanahashi added Japan's sixth goal.
