Without injured captain Xuan Truong in the line-up, coach Grachen Guillaume’s men found it difficult to apply the pressing tactic and break Laos’ defence line.

Lao players carved out at least three scoring chances in the first half, testing goalie Van Truong’s skills. However, they could not manage to fire in.

On 26 minutes, striker Cong Phuong beat the Lao goalie, but his volley was blocked by a Lao defender.

Cong Phuong celebrated his goal

Four minutes later, Thanh Tung entered the penalty box, facing the Lao goalie, but his ball past above the horizontal bar.

In the second half, Lao players were nearly awarded a goal when a Lao striker came face-to-face with Van Truong in the penalty box, yet his ball went wide.

Guillaume decided to replace marked striker Van Toan with midfielder Lam Ti Phong who ventured down the right wing and set up the ball for Cong Phuong to curl a superb finish beyond the stretching goalie on 74 minutes.

U19 Vietnam will take on the winners of another semi-final encounter between U19 Indonesia and U19 Timor Leste.