YANGON (14 Sept 2011) – Nine-men Myanmar edged Laos 1-0 in a crucial tie of Group B of the AFF Under-19 Championship 2011 as Indonesia blasted Brunei 10-0 in the other group match.
Gerd Horst, the Myanmar chief coach, said that it was important for them to eliminate Laos captain Souliya Syphasay as a midfield threat and he could not be more than pleased with the effort of his chargers.
“We managed to limit his move and that gave us the advantage,” said Gerd.
“It was unfortunate with the two red cards (Phyo Maung Maung Kyaw and Soe Paing Thway, both for picking up two yellow cards in the same game) although in their defence, these players are not dirty players. They are just a little aggressive in wanting to win. But we have other players who can come in for the next match (against Indonesia).”
Needing to win this crucial tie for a place in the semi-finals, hosts Myanmar pulled all the stop to press Laos right from the very first whistle with Thiha Zaw leading the attack.
With more presence in midfield, Myanmar had more of the possession at the start with Yan Naing Htwe testing Laos custodian Soukthavy Soundala with a somewhat tame header in the third minute of play.
In the 10th minute, a similar header from Ye Win Aung off a free kick failed to bring cheer to the several thousand at the stand while Laos finally got a look in with a stinger from Southinh Sayalath which rocked the Myanmar crossbar.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 24th minute when off a Naing Ko Lin corner, a mistake from Soukthavy in making a clearance allowed Thiha the chance to pick the ball before turning in a shot past a sea of legs.
Frustrated, the Laos bench made two substitutions on a trot when they brought in Sitthideth Khanthavong in place of Souksavanh Somsanith and Bounlien Bounpachack for Lembo Saysana but that did little to add pace to their game as the score line remained well into the second half.
Myanmar had a double chance from Kyaw Zay ya but both his attempt could have done with a better finish while for Laos, they came close to striking the equaliser but the shot from Souliya narrowly missed the intended target.
In the 70th minute, Myanmar lost captain Phyo Maung while a minute to the end, they lost Soe Paing.
“Our players are not used to playing beach football,” fumed Veunsavanh Sivisay, the chief coach of Laos afterwards.
“The pitch is bad and our players could not control the ball or do proper passing. In the second half, Myanmar did not have a decent shot at goal. Our keeper made that one mistake for them to score in the first half.”
Meanwhile, at the Aung San Stadium, Indonesia ran riot when they whipped Brunei DS 10-0.
The score at the half was 6-0 with goals from Syahru Ramadhan in the tenth minute, Rahmat Johani Saputro (27th and 28th minute), Zoel Fhadli (29th and 44th) and Rahmadana (36th)
Indonesia then added further goals with Zoel and Rahmat completing their hat tricks with goals in the 54th and 57th respectively before Dian Ardiansyah nailed a brace in the 60th and 73rd minute.
GROUPINGS
Group A: Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia
Group B: Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei DS
RESULTS and FIXTURES
8 Sept: LAOS 3 INDONESIA 3 / BRUNEI DS 0 VIETNAM 7
9 Sept: PHILIPPINES 1 SINGAPORE 1 / CAMBODIA 0 MALAYSIA 0
10 Sept: VIETNAM 1 MYANMAR 1 / BRUNEI DS 0 LAOS 7
11 SEPT: MALAYSIA 0 THAILAND 1 / CAMBODIA 5 PHILIPPINES 3
12 Sept: MYANMAR 6 BRUNEI DS 0 / INDONESIA 1 VIETNAM 6
13 Sept: THAILAND 5 CAMBODIA 0 / SINGAPORE 0 MALAYSIA 6
14 Sept: BRUNEI DS 0 INDONESIA 10 / LAOS 0 MYANMAR 1
15 Sept: Cambodia vs Singapore (1530, Youth Training Centre) / Philippines vs Thailand (1530, Aung San Stadium)
16 Sept: Vietnam vs Laos (1530, Aung San Stadium) / Indonesia vs Myanmar (1530, Youth Training Centre)
17 Sept: Malaysia vs Philippines (1530, Youth Training Centre) / Singapore vs Thailand (1530, Aung San Stadium)
18 Sept: Rest Day
19 Sept: Winner A vs Runner-up B (1530) / Winner B vs Runner-up A (1810)
20 Sept: Rest Day
21 Sept: 3rd/4th Placing (1530) / Final (1810)
TABLE STANDING
Group A
| TEAM |
P |
W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Thailand | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Cambodia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 4 |
| Philippines | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 1 |
| Singapore | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 1 |
Group B
| TEAM |
P |
W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Vietnam | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 7 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Laos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| Brunei DS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 28 | -28 | 0 |
