Ma Xiaoxu's goal pushed China to a 1-0 victory over North Korea to win the AFC Under-19 Women's Championship at the Cheras Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday.

China and North Korea sailed into the final of the tournament after beating Japan 6-4 (penalty shoot-out) and Australia 4-2 respectively in the semis.

In the first half, China had the ball in the net as early as the ninth minute but Zi Jingjing was judged offside. North Korea then dominated most of the match, but their attacks at goal were fended off by China's goalie Zhang Yanru, who played a spectacular game. The match was tied at 0-0 at halftime.

The second half saw a more defensive play from the Chinese until the 76th minute when they stripped the ball in the backfield. Zhang Wei curled it to the inside setting up Ma Xiaoxu, just off the bench, to score the deciding goal.

With 10 goals, Ma was top scorer of the tournament, having also scored the winning goal in the penalty shootout against Japan in the semis, seven when China thrashed Malaysia 22-0, and two in the 9-0 trouncing of Jordan.

"We were shorthanded in our line-up and had several injured players, so I made up my mind on counter-attack tactics. I'm very happy that we seized the one opportunity in the second half. It was a tough tournament but we made it," said the jubilant Chinese coach Shang Ruihua.

This is the first time that China has come out on top at the biennial tournament. They were second runners-up in the first championship in India in 2002, and runners-up in China in 2004.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao April 19, 2006)