On the afternoon of May 28, the U16 Vietnam team faced U16 Australia in the opening match of the 2025 CFA Team China U16 International Tournament in Hohhot (China).
Right after the opening whistle, U16 Australia took the initiative to control the game and put pressure on for the first 20 minutes. However, the defense of U16 Vietnam, especially goalkeeper Ly Xuan Hoa, played with focus and successfully neutralized the opponent's shots.
After the first few minutes of being at a disadvantage, U16 Vietnam gradually regained control of the game and organized many sharp attacks. Coach Cristiano Roland's students demonstrated great tactical efficiency and had two consecutive opportunities in the 32nd and 34th minutes, but Van Duong could not defeat the opposing team's goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation.
However, the efforts of U16 Vietnam were finally rewarded in the 45th minute. From a cross, the Australian U16 goalkeeper pushed the ball out of Dai Nhan's control, this player quickly rushed in to score, opening the score 1-0 for U16 Vietnam.
Entering the second half, U16 Australia pushed up their formation to find an equalizer. In the 75th minute, after a chaotic situation in the penalty area from a corner kick, U16 Australia brought the match back to the starting line with a score of 1-1. Just one minute later, U16 Australia continued to increase the score to 2-1 with a beautiful left-footed shot outside the penalty area.
Notably, in the 81st minute, Sy Bach had another golden opportunity to equalize in a face-off with the goalkeeper, but once again U16 Vietnam could not take advantage of it successfully.
In the end, U16 Vietnam suffered a 1-2 defeat, despite creating many clear opportunities against strong opponent U16 Australia.
With the nature of a friendly tournament, although the result does not play the most important role, losing to the opponent and missing many opportunities will also be a valuable lesson for coach Cristiano Roland and his team, especially in the preparation period for the bigger goal, the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers.
The U16 Vietnam team will meet the host team China U16 on May 30.
