Can Tho (VNA)- Yokohama FC defended their title after defeating Vietnam 2-0 in the final ofthe Thanh Nien Newspaper International U-21 Football Tournament, held onDecember 22 in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The match was the second meeting between the two sides in the annualtournament.

During the round robin qualification stage, the Japanese team scored a goal inextra time to tie with Vietnam 2-2. The result was enough to see them both faceeach other again in the final match.

Yokohama, who fielded their best players, did not have any difficultydominating their hosts, who were without striker Tran Ngoc Son, because of ared card from a previous match.

Meajima Yota scored the opener in the 17th minute, after receiving the ballfrom a corner kick. Yota controlled the ball with his right foot and shot intothe goal.

Vietnam pushed hard and created more attacks, but they failed to threatengoalkeeper Ichikawa Akinori.

Their only serious chance came when Trieu Viet Hung stole the ball and passedto striker Dinh Thanh Binh near the box. However, Binh, who scored a double inthe previous match, could not beat Akinori, who also saved many other shotsfrom the hosts during the final.
Just four minutes after the interval, the score was 2-0 for the reigningchampions.

Captain Saito Kosuke leapt and headed the ball, which was crossed from theright wing, into the net.

Vietnamese goalie Roman Suo tried his best but he could not save his team andprevent the second goal.

Coach Trinh Duy Quang made changes to improve his attack.
However, his players were still not strong enough to break Yokohama’s sterndefence.

In the third-place playoff, Myanmar beat Thailand 4-2 to take the bronze medal.

Yokohama went home with a bonus of 12,000 USD. The Japanese team alsosecured individual awards, as Kosuke was voted the best player of thetournament. His teammate, Matsuoka Rimu, was the leading scorer with fourgoals, and Akinori was the best goalkeeper.-VNA