Viet Nam's U23 team were defeated 1-0 by South Korea Student football team in their opener at HCM City International Football Tournament yesterday, Sep 20.

Kim Jong-bo penetrated an offside trap to net the ball in the 88th minute.

In an early match yesterday, Qatar's Aspire Academy beat Singapore's U23 team 2-0 at Thong Nhat Stadium.

The win took the Qatari to the top of the tournament table with three points, ahead of the South Korea Student football team and Viet Nam.

The hosts started the match in an attacking style, while the visitors played cautiously, slowing play down.

The Viet Nam team let go of a good opportunity to score when captain Hoang Dinh Tung missed a goal in the 15th minute when his header went wide at close range.

Vietnamese players created more chances to score but strikers failed to penetrate the crowded South Korean defence.

After the break, German coach Falko Goetz sent in more attacking midfielders and strikers to find a win for Viet Nam, but in the end failed to find the goal, despite dominating the second half.

Viet Nam are scheduled to play Aspire Academy tomorrow and Singapore's U23 team on Saturday.

The tournament has drawn U-23 teams from Singapore, South Korea's Student team and the hosts, who will compete in a round robin format for a cash prize of US$20,000. The Academy is a place for training world football talents with their programme called Football Dreams.

Da Nang's Nguyen Thai Sung became the first Vietnamese contestant in the Aspire's global final, receiving a scholarship for three-years of training at Aspire Academy.

The Aspire Academy team will also take part in an U-21 international tournament organised from September 27 to October 4.

The event is a chance for Viet Nam's U-23 team to hone their skills and prepare for the upcoming 26th Southeast Asian Games.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News