Vietnam were crowned the queens of a Southeast Asian under-14 football competition on Sunday after routing their neighbors Cambodia 7-0 on home turf, Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.
Pham Thi Thu Hien scored a hattrick for the hosting team, whose cause was furthered by Nguyen Thi Quynh, Truong T Anh Nguyet, Nguyen Thi Nu and skipper Nguyen Thi Minh Anh, all of whom got a goal each, according to the Asian Football Confederation’s website.
The Vietnamese girls won the AFC U-14 Girls' Regional Championship for the ASEAN region after finishing on top by a narrow and single goal difference over Thailand, who also secured four victories out of five games at the competition like Vietnam.
Vietnamese striker Nguyen Thi Quynh was presented with the golden boot and player of the tournament awards thanks to her 9 goals and great form throughout the competition. The Vietnamese thrashed Malaysia 7-1 in their first game and then defeated the Philippines 4-0, before losing 0-1 to Myanmar. They returned to down Thailand 2-1 prior to the final match against the Cambodian girls.
Myanmar were in third place with 10 points following their 6-0 win over bottom finishers Malaysia today.
The sports event – featuring Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand – took place between June 18 and 23 in the Vietnamese city.
The six nations were vying for the last regional title of the inaugural girls’ championship, following India who lifted the trophy for the South and Central region in March, Jordan clinching the West region championship in April, and China claiming the East region crown early this month.