U23's beat Myanmar 3-1 in friendly

Viet Nam's U23 football team came from one goal down to beat their Burmese counterparts 3-1 in a friendly match in Yangoon.

The hosts were ahead after 34 minutes after a successful penalty by Kyi Lin, following a foul from Que Ngoc Hai.

After making a slew of substitutions in the second half, coach Hoang Van Phuc gradually shifted momentum in favour of his side.

Nguyen Van Quyet evened the score with an angled shot set up by teammates Tran Phi Son and Nguyen Quang Hung.

An own goal from the host team in the 80th minute and a penalty from Hung sealed the victory just five minutes from the full-time whistle.

In other football news, Viet Nam's hopes of qualifying for the 2015 Asian Cup were dashed with a crushing 3-1 defeat by Uzbekistan in the first leg.

Nguyen Trong Hoang scored the only goal for Viet Nam.

Thang signs on with Dong Tam Long An

Striker Nguyen Viet Thang has signed a one-year contract with V-League Dong Tam Long An.

Thang wowed Long An officials with his remarkable performance after moving to the club on a loan contract from Becamex Binh Duong last year.

As Binh Duong made plans to re-new their player contracts, Thang has decided to stay with the new team.

Earlier this week, Long An bought the star's one-year contract from Binh Duong for a reported VND1 billion (US$47,600). Thang's salary has not been revealed.

Affirming their decision, Long An's management said Thang was an experienced player with top level experience who helped win the ASEAN Football Federation Cup trophy in 2008.

An Giang duo continue dominance

Nguyen Thi That and Tran Thi Phuong Trang added another gold medal to keep An Giang comfortably on top in the National Cycling Championship rankings.

The duo yesterday finished first in the women's doubles 500m sprint event in Vung Tau City.

With five golds, three silvers and two bronzes, An Giang have found no significant competition to halt their dominance.

Despite facing national team regulars Thi Phuong Phi and Nguyen Thuy Dung of Binh Duong in the final, the That/Trang combo drew ahead in the final metres to seize the gold.

Their teammates Nguyen Thi Thi and Cam Tu pocketed the bronze medal.

On the men's side, Tran Van Quyen and Huynh Thanh Tung took the first gold for the Military team after defeating An Giang's Lam Cong Danh and Nguyen Thanh Tam.

Le Ngoc Thanh and Le Nguyet Minh of HCM City came third.

The Binh Duong team later triumphed in the women's team 3km time trial event. Quartet Dung, Phi, Nguyen Phan Ngoc Trang and Nguyen Ngoc Kim Ngan met no difficulty in taking the lead and clocking 4min 14.32sec to take the team's third gold medal, lifting them to second place overall.

Dong Thap came second, behind by 11.20sec, and An Giang finished third.

Le Van Duan, who won the men's individual 4km time trial on Monday, played a key role in HCM City's victory in the men's team category yesterday. Duan, in company with Hung, Tran Thanh Nhanh and Truong Nguyen Thanh Nhan won the crucial race in a time of 4:51.92.

They were followed by Vinh Long and Dong Thap.

It was the third gold for the city team, who stand in third place after three days.

On the final day today, the male cyclists will compete in the 160km road race.

The national championship has lured more than 100 athletes from nine teams competing for 18 sets of medals.

It is Viet Nam's most important cycling tournament of the year and will help cycling federation officials select athletes for the forthcoming Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar this December.