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Australia U20 whitewashes 3-0 Thailand at AFF Women' s Championship opener

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

In spite of having an upper hand in the opener of the 2015 AFF Women' s Championship on Friday in Vietnam' s Ho Chi Minh City, Thailand lost 0-3 to visiting Australia U20, all in the second half.

The Group A match took place at the 25,000-seat Thong Nhat Stadium at the 8th edition of the international women' s football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).

Being a little experienced more than Australian girls, Thai players deployed a pressing style right from the start of the match. Six minutes into the game, a Thai player missed a scoring chance, and six minutes later, her teammate followed suit. Three minutes into the second half, a Thai player failed to make the opening score.

In the 53rd minute, Australian captain Amy Harrison defeated well-performing Thai goalie Waraporn Boonsing with a penalty shoot. After a tactful coordination between two Australian players, the ball found the net' s back of Thai goalie in the 77th minute. Six minutes later, a close rang blast by an Australia player beat the goalie again, fixing the game' s score of 3-0 in favor of Australia U20.

Right after the opener, Indonesia is to play Laos. On Saturday, Vietnam will cope with strong rival Myanmar, and Malaysia with the Philippines. The tournament lasts from May 1 to 10, with 8 teams playing in the tournament.

Group A includes Thailand, Australia U20, Indonesia and Laos, with Thailand and Australia U20 expected to advance to the semi-finals. Group B consists of Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines, with the first two largely forecast to secure berths to the semi-finals.

In Southeast Asia, the race to the crown is harsh competition among host Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Before the tournament started, Norimatsu Takashi, Japanese coach of Vietnam' s national women football team, told reporters that he is confident that his squad will be crowned.

The 46-year-old Japanese man, who in March signed a two-year contract with the Vietnam Football Federation, to become the team' s head coach, replacing Chinese man Chen Yun Fat, said he was impressed by the professional attitude of Vietnamese players.

In the previous AFF Women' s Championship in 2013 in Myanmar, visiting Japan ranked the first after defeating Australia 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out after a draw 1-1 after extra time. Vietnam finished third after beating Myanmar 3-1. Endi