Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam defeatedEast Timor 4-0 in a match of the AFC U23 Championship qualification, which wasplayed under heavy rains in HCM City on July 19.

The rain left giant puddles in the ThongNhat Stadium creating difficulties for both sides. It also saved Vietnam from agoal just four minutes into the game.

Monteiro received a ball from his teammateand tapped it to the far corner of the net. Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Tien Dungfailed to stop it but a puddle did his job just a metre in front of the whiteline.

Vietnam then fought back immediately. Theystrongly pressured East Timor and found the opener at the 18th minute. Striker HaDuc Chinh got his first goal in an official match for the national team when hecapitalised on a mistake by the East Timor defenders.

In the second half, Vietnam started to playwith more ease as the weather conditions improved and striker Nguyen CongPhuong struck twice at the 67th and 71st marks.

It was 4-0 for the hosts as midfielder NguyenTuan Anh hit home from 20m to round off a good start for Vietnam.

Also the same day, the Republic of Koreashowed off their power with a huge 10-0 win over Macau in an earlier match ofGroup I.

Cho Young-ook netted four goals, ParkSeong-bu made it a double while Hwang In-beom, Doo Hyeon-seok, Jo Sung-wook andPark Jae-woo netted one each for the team.

The RoK were placed on top after the firstround. The title favourite will next play East Timor on July 21.

[Vietnam can make AFC final round: coach]

Coach Jeong Jeong-yong said he wassatisfied with the win although things must be improved.

"I am satisfied with the result andthe performance of our players today. Our players showed their good spirit andtried to score many goals. We played better in the second half, especiallywhile attacking,” Jeong said on the-afc.com.

“Although we scored 10 goals in this game,I still think that we lost many chances to score more goals. That is why I wantour players to show their best performance in the rest of the matches,especially in making use of scoring chances," he said.

He also said he would test his players inthe second match against East Timor to have the best line-up for the Vietnammatch.

Macau, in the meantime, will face thehosts.

Speaking with reporters after the match,Macau coach Tam Lao San said he was a little disappointed with the result eventhough his players did well but they could not compare with the Koreans.

Macau suffered heavy pressure in the gameand made mistakes. The RoK took advantage of these mistakes and scored goals.

He said the Macau team has several amateurplayers with the majority between the ages of 19 and 20 and some older playerswho have other jobs. Despite a weak team, they would do their best to showcasethe spirit of football against Vietnam, he added.

Two years ago Macau lost 0-7 to Vietnam at theU23 qualification.-VNA