Ulaanbaatar: Australia booked their place in the AFC U-16 Championship Malaysia 2018 with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam in their final Group I match at the Mongolian Football Federation Football Centre in Ulaanbaatar on Sunday.
Vietnam, on six points like Australia but with an inferior goal difference, had to win to secure a spot in next year's Finals.
Vietnam started the match brightly and controlled the game early in the first half.
But their long range attempts couldn’t test Australian goalkeeper Ahmad Taleb.
Australia looked dangerous with their counter attacks but an opening goal eluded them in the first half.
After the break, Australia began to play with more intensity and captain Tyson Savas opened the scoring his seventh goal of the qualifiying tournament with a close range shot in the 62nd minute.
Ten minutes later, Australian midfielder Ryan Teague doubled their advantage with a free-kick.
Tristan Hammond, who was rested against in the previous match against Cambodia, converted a penalty kick to make it 3-0 in the 79th minute.
Vietnam got a consolation from substitute forward Dau Ngoc Thanh, who scored in the 82nd minute.
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com