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WEINAN, China, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The 17-year-old captain Liu Ruofan's double helped China U-17 national football team smash Turkmenistan 4-1 in the opening match of the 2016 Silk Road Cup youth football tournament on Monday.
The host team took the lead in the 11th minute by Liu's short-distance header, and Cai Haochang and Tao Qianglong enlarged the cushion for China in the next 10 minutes, both scoring by sharp counterattacks.
Enjoying the cheers of more than 10,000 supporters, the Chinese footballers took a high possession rate in the rest of the match. Liu sealed the triumph with his second goal in the 28th minute.
Turkmenistan didn't give up as the substitute striker Ilya Salov netted a consolation goal in the 86th minute.
"I'm glad we have a wonderful beginning in Weinan. The players did excellent job in the field," said Wen Zhijun, the coach of the Chinese team.
In the other match, South Korea defeated Tajikistan 3-1.
This is the second time that Weinan held the round-robin tournament which features the U-17 national teams of China, South Korea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
