Australia U-20 beats hosts Vietnam to finish third at AFF Women's Championship

Australia U-20 beat hosts Vietnam 4-3 here Sunday to finish third at the 2015 AFF Women's Championship.

The two sides played neck-to-neck during the match at Thong Nhat Stadium with thousands of Vietnamese fans. Vietnamese players, who deployed the 4-4-2 formation, were more experienced than Australian girls, but the latter looked physically stronger and better at one-touch decisive shoots.

Four minutes into the game, Australian 16-year-old midfielder Kobie Ferguson defeated Vietnam veteran goalie Dang Thi Kieu Trinh, making the advantage of 1-0 for her team.

Six minutes later, Vietnamese 29-year-old striker Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet converted a penalty to create an equalizer.

In the 31st minute, making full use of Australian defenders' hesitant actions, Minh Nguyet beat Australian goalie Teagan Micah to gift Vietnam 2-1 lead at the end of the first half.

Eleven minutes after the interval, indecision of Vietnamese defender Vu Thi Thuy created a favorate chance for Australian 15-year-old striker Princess Ibini-Isei who grabbed the equalizer of 2-2.

In the 74th minute, Thuy failed to race against Ibini-Isei, letting her drive a long pass to her teammate Beatrice Goad whose one-touch shoot found the net.

Ten minutes later, unmarked Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung tied the score at 3-3 with a close-range header.

In the 93rd minute, Ibini-Isei delivered a blitz shoot, sending the ball right to the post in a goalmouth melee. Kieu Trinh failed to catch the ball which rolled quickly to her goal.

After the match between Australia U-20 and Vietnam is the final between Thailand and Myanmar.

Thailand, Australia U-20, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines, have competed for the trophy. In the previous AFF Women's Championship, Japan was crowned after downing Australia 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out. Endi