Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Vientiane: China finished with a perfect record and claimed their AFC U-23 Championship 2016 spot after beating hosts Laos 3-0 in a qualifier at the National Sports Complex Stadium on Tuesday.
Feng Gang, who scored in China’s 5-0 win over Singapore, opened the scoring with 17 minutes gone of the Group J encounter.
Xie Pengfei duly doubled the advantage on 53 minutes, taking his qualifying tally to two, while substitute Guo Hao registered his first international goal by scoring China’s third on 77 minutes to seal all three points from the crunch game.
China finished top of the group having won all three of their games, while Laos concluded their qualifying campaign in second spot with four points.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar at the AFC U-23 Championship 2016, with January’s 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio.
The final group winner and the complete line up of best second-place finishers will only be confirmed after the conclusion of Group B of the qualifiers, which features Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan as well as hosts Pakistan.
Group B was scheduled to take place in Lahore at Lahore’s Punjab Stadium from March 23 to 31 has been postponed due to security concerns following the recent troubles in the Youhanabad area of the city.
A decision on an alternative venue and schedule for Group B will be announced in due course.