Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bangkok: Korea Republic scored three times in the final ten minutes to see off a stubborn Singapore 6-2 in the opening round of Group H matches in the qualifiers for the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship on Monday, while Chinese Taipei also kicked-off their campaign on a winning note with an emphatic 10-0 defeat of the Northern Mariana Islands in the later fixture at the Rajamangala Stadium.
A 23rd minute strike from Korea Republic midfielder Kim Jeong-hwan was all that separated the two at the interval before Muhammad Hami Syahin bin Said drew Singapore level seven minutes into the second half.
Parity lasted barely three minutes with substitute Lee Dong-jun restoring the South Koreans’ lead but again Singapore levelled the contest, with skipper Gareth Low making it 2-2 on the hour mark.
After being pegged back by the South East Asians for the second time, An Ik-soo’s side were back in front just 60 seconds later when Lee - who came on at the start of the second half in place of Kim Dae-won - grabbed his second to give Korea Republic a narrow 3-2 lead, which they held going into final ten minutes.
Singapore’s chances of taking something from the game were dealt a major blow thanks to Kang Ji-hun’s 82nd minute goal, and after Kim Si-woo made it 5-2 in the final minute Lee capped the scoring when he completed his hat-trick one minute into stoppage time as the 13-time AFC U-19 champions ultimately opened their campaign with a convincing win.
Chinese Taipei’s win was even more convincing as the East Asians hit double figures against Group H outsiders the Northern Mariana Islands.
Yu Chia-Huang led the scoring with a hat-trick (17th, 64th, 79th) while Chen Hung-Wei (12th, 29th), Chao Ming-Hsiu (47th, 61st) and second-half substitute Cheng Chun-Hsien (73rd, 90th +1) all scored doubles.
Cheng came on just before the hour mark to replace Kao Wei-Jie, who scored Chinese Taipei’s opener with just two minutes at the Rajamangala Stadium played.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualification (total 16 teams).
If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (6th) second-placed team will qualify for the final competition.