Vietnam beat Malaysia 2-1 in the first match of Group I in the AsianFootball Confederation's (AFC) U23 Championship Qualifier in KualaLumpur on March 27.

The win has strengthened the Vietnamesesquad's chances of entering the final round, which will see 10 groupwinners and five second-placed teams from all groups, who will joinhosts Qatar at the AFC U23 Championship 2016.

The January 16,2016 team competition would also serve as Asia's qualifying tournamentfor the Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro next year.

Malaysia's Captain Nazirul Naimche Hashim opened the scorecard in the35th minute of the match, which saw the visiting side play on theoffensive from the beginning.

Just three minutes after theopener, Vo Huy Toan levelled the score for Vietnam with a magnificentshot straight into the net.

Striker Nguyen Cong Phuong receivedthe ball near the box. He managed to move to the right before heelingToan, who ran fast and aimed a canon shot at goalkeeper Farhan.

SHB Da Nang FC's striker suffered an injury and left the fieldearlier-than-expected. But he said he would be okay for the next game.

Towards the end of the first half, many in the audience thoughtthe match would end in a 1-1 draw. But it was Phuong who made adifference.

He grabbed a goal for himself after tapping a perfect long free kick from Vietnam side.

The famous player broke the offside trap and made an easy job of the 2-1 score for his side.

In an earlier match of the group, Japan began their campaign with abang as they whipped Macau 7-0 at the Shah Alam Stadium.

Buoyedby their massive opening success, Japan will be aiming for a secondconsecutive win when they play against Vietnam, while Macau will seektheir first victory as they face hosts Malaysia tomorrow.-VNA