KUALA LUMPUR: Super-sub Ma Xiaoxu scored against the run of play to help China win the AFC Under-19 Women¡¯s Championship with a 1-0 victory over Korea DPR in the final at Kuala Lumpur Cheras Stadium on Tuesday.

Ma, who scored the winning penalty in China¡¯s semi-final shootout victory over Japan, slammed home the second-half winner from close range in one of her team¡¯s rare forays into attack.

It was a stunning victory for China and a disappointing blow to Korea DPR, who had dominated most of the match but saw plenty of chances go begging.

Ma finished as top scorer for the tournament with 10 goals. Although she had seven in their 22-0 Group B victory over Malaysia and two against Jordan (9-0), her goal on Tuesday was by far the most important.

¡°I cannot take all the credit for our victory,¡± said Ma. ¡°All the players worked very hard and it was the coach¡¯s tactics that won the day for us.¡±

China coach Shang Rahui said it was his intention to allow Korea DPR to do all of the attacking.

¡°We had a few injuries in our side and fitness-wise, we were having problems,¡± said Shang. ¡°We decided to let them come at us and try to hit them on the counter-attack.

¡°We had one real chance in the second half and we scored. It has been a great tournament with some strong teams and we are delighted to have come out on top.¡±

China had the ball in the net as early as the ninth minute but Zi Jingjing was judged offside as she fired past Korea DPR goalkeeper Wi Un-ok.

Indeed, the Chinese looked the better side for the opening 20 minutes but once Korea DPR found their rhythm, China appeared to have no answer to their opponents' midfield domination and creativity down the right flank.

On 34 minutes, Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Yanru was forced to make a brilliant save from Kim Ok-sim, who together with Kim Kyong-hwa gave China all sorts of problems down the right wing.

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