Laos through as best third-place side of AFC U-16

Vientiane: Laos will join Group F winners Japan and runners-up Korea Republic at the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship after the qualifying Group F hosts defeated Chinese Taipei 5-0 on Wednesday to finish as the best third-place team from the East Zone.

Laos needed the win and hoped that Japan would defeat Vietnam in the earlier match at the Laos National Stadium.

The Japanese held up their end of the bargain as Hirofumi Yoshitake's side overcame the setback of conceding a first minute Nguyen Viet Thang goal to defeat Vietnam 5-2.

Fumiya Nakamura equalised in the 35^th minute with the first of his hat-trick, scoring his second in the 57^th minute after Iwana Kobayashi had made it 3-1 six minutes earlier.

Le Hoang Duong reduced the deficit in the 63^rd minute and after Goson Sakai restored Japan's two-goal cushion three minutes later, Nakamura completed his hat-trick and sealed the win in the 72^nd minute.

Japan's victory gave Laos the opportunity to finish third in the table and the chance to go through as the best third-place finishers in the East Zone and the home side went about their task with ruthless efficiency as a Phithack Konmathilath double (6^th and 15^th) either side of an 11^th minute Sisawad Dalavong strike had Han Hyong Il's charges 3-0 up with just a quarter-of-an-hour at the played.

Laos were 4-0 ahead on the half-hour mark through a Yen Ting-han own goal before Anoukone Keola completed the scoring with seven minutes left to play.

In Group F's other match Korea Republic sealed their first place finish with an emphatic 10-0 win over Cambodia.

Lee Gun scored four times (14^th, 34^th, 74^th and 87^th) while Choi Ju-yong (16^th), Hwang Ki-wook (21^st), You Jin-seok (70^th), Ko Min-hyeok (84^th) and Roh Kyoung-woo (90^th) also got their names in the score sheet.

A Cambodian player did score but unfortunately for them it was into the wrong net, with Savy Seukirin's own-goal giving the Koreans a first-minute lead.