Hoàng Anh Gia Lai win U21 championship title after penalty shootout

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai beat PVF 4-2 in penalties to lift the National U21 Football Championship trophy on August 12 in Hưng Yên Province. Photos from VFF

HƯNG YÊN — Goalkeeper Trần Trung Kiên and the right post helped Hoàng Anh Gia Lai win the National U21 Football Championship on August 12 in Hưng Yên Province.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai beat hosts PVF 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the final ended nil after 90 official minutes.

Both sides played defensively to tackle their rivals, although it was their second meeting in this tournament. They were in the same Group A and drew 1-1 on August 5.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai had more threatening opportunities, but their strikers could not convert them into goals as PFV defenders covered all ways, leading to goalkeeper Minh Kha’s area.

In the second half, both teams made some changes to bolster their front lines, however they did not work, leading to the goalless result.

It was the third match that Hoàng Anh Gia Lai won after spot kicks. In the quarter-finals, they won 8-7 over powerful Hà Nội and in the semi-finals, they beat the darkhorse Quảng Nam 5-3.

Meanwhile, PVF advanced to the final after defeating Đông Á Thanh Hóa 5-4 in penalties.

Goalkeeper Trần Trung Kiên and his coach celebrate after the penalty kicks.

It seemed that Hoàng Anh Gia Lai players’ mentality was better trained through previous tense matches, and they were successful in all four shots.

Meanwhile, PVF was more nervous. Lê Phát’s finish was blocked by the 1.91m custodian Kiên before Quang Anh’s third kick hit the post.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, which only advanced to the knockout stage as one of the two best third-placed teams, jumped to the top podium and pocketed a VNĐ250 million (US$10,000) reward and VNĐ500 million from Nguyễn Đức Thụy, the chairman of Fortune Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPBank).

It was the team’s second U21 title after their victory in 2017.

Final match hero Kiên was the best keeper, while striker Nguyễn Đức Việt was the most valuable player, Đông Á Thanh Hoá, who received the fair play award, shared the third place with Quảng Nam.

Their striker Nguyễn Ngọc Mỹ was the top scorer with six goals. VNS