The Australian U-16 team.

JAKARTA: Australia fired a warning to their Asian U-16 rivals by winning the AFF U-16 Youth Championship on Saturday after defeating Bahrain 5-4 on penalties at the Lebak Bulus Stadium following a 1-1 deadlock in regular and extra-time.

Ali Muneer Redha put the Gulf side ahead on 44 minutes before Marc Warren dragged the Aussies back into the game with his 87th minute header.

Thirty minutes of extra-time failed to break the stalemate and in the ensuing shoot-out, the scores stood level at 4-4 when Bahraini Abdullah Khalifa Mohamed missed from the spot, leaving Kerem Bulut to place the ball left of the goalkeeper for a memorable victory.

“We started pretty slowly all week and we were a little nervous but these boys are still growing up and they have to learn the need to settle early,” said Australian head coach Martyn Crook.

“But we settled down a bit and I believe that the team will just have to grow with this tournament.”

In the other match of the evening, Malaysia defeated Singapore 3-0 to take third place in the tournament.