China followed up Saturday's win against Turkey with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Ukraine on Tuesday and became the first team to reach the FIFA World Youth Championship round of 16.

Ukraine started out the more aggressive side and had a number of scoring chances before Dmytro Vorobei beat Yang Cheng, the Chinese goalie, with a low shot at 19 minutes.

The Chinese kept their cool and leveled the score at the half-hour mark when Tianjin Teda prodigy Hao Junmin dribbled past two Ukrainians and played the ball into the path of Dalian Shide forward Zhu Ting, who shot one past Ukrainian keeper Leonid Musin.

Buoyed by the psychological advantage, Krautzun's boys took the lead at 66 minutes when Chen Tao sent Musin the wrong way from the penalty spot after Oleksandr Aliiev handled a Hao Junmin cross in the box.

But just four minutes later, Aliiev made amends for his earlier mistake and converted a penalty after Zhu Ting was sent off for tripping Oleksandr Sytnyk.

However, China wasn't done fighting and in the 75th minute, Shandong Luneng midfielder Cui Peng capitalized on poor defending by the Ukrainian backline to connect with Chen Tao's left corner kick to nod home the winner for China.

"I am so proud of the team as they played with good teamwork and fighting spirit and in the end it was that spirit that carried us through this hard-fought match," said China coach Eckhard Krautzun.

China: Yang Cheng; Zhao Ming, Zheng Tao (Liu Yu 46'), Feng Xiaoting, Tan Wangsong; Hao Junmin (Lu Lin 72'), Chen Tao, Zhao Xuri, Cui Peng (Wang Hongliang 87'); Gao Lin, Zhu Ting

Match venue: Galgenwaard Stadium, Utrecht

Group B standings after two games:
China 2 6
Ukraine 2 3
Turkey 2 3
Panama 2 0

Remaining fixtures (June 17):
China v. Panama
Turkey v. Ukraine

(sinosoc.com June 15, 2005)