AFF WOMEN’S C’SHIP: THAILAND TAKE GROUP B; MYANMAR FINISH SECOND

VIENTIANE (21 Oct 2011) – Thailand recovered from a goal down to defeat Myanmar 3-1 to win Group B at the Chao Anouvong Stadium as ten-women Philippines battled to a 2-2 draw in the other tie at the National Stadium of the AFF Women’s Championship 2011.

Myanmar led 1-0 at the break but Thailand blasted three goals in the second half to end the group fixtures unbeaten. They will now take on hosts Laos in the semi-finals while Myanmar will entertain Vietnam in the other tie in two days.

Tonight, Myanmar put on a spirited performance, overzealous at times though, to keep the Thais in check in the first half. In fact, from being on the offensive in the early part of the first half, Thailand began to fall back under the weight of the heavy Myanmar attack.

And in the 37th minute, Myanmar were rewarded for their efforts with a superb goal from Khin Marlar Tun, whose glancing header off a cross from My Nilar Htwe, soundly beat the Thai keeper, Kanyawee Sudtawee.

After the break, the Thais brought on star striker Nisa Romyen to bolster their attack and it certainly made a difference. With the additional support upfront, Thailand began to get their shots in and struck the equaliser in the 54th minute.

To the despair of her teammates, Myanmar keeper Mya Phu Ngon fumbled to clear a shot from flanker Kanjana Sung-Ngoen.

Twenty minutes on, Thailand took the lead when Kanjana, whose explosive runs down the right created problems for the defence throughout the game. Kanjana’s cross from the touchline was met by a diving header from Nisa.

With four minutes on the clock, Kanjana was in the thick of the action again. Her crisp cross from the right was connected by substitute Pajaree Thaoto to seal the victory for the Thais.

In the meantime in the match at the National Stadium, both the Philippines and Malaysia were eager to avoid the wooden spoon tag.

And while the Malaysians were attempting to exert control, it was the Philippines who nailed the first goal of the game when Kathleen Rodriguez capitalised on a Malaysian keeper Roszaini Bakar‘s mistake to slot into an open goal.

But the loss of captain Marielle Benitez at the end of the first half would soon turn the tide in Malaysia’s favour despite the score being 1-0 to the advantage of the Philippines.

Three minutes after the restart, Malaysia took advantage of a poor defensive clearance from the Philippines for captain Angela Kais to score the equaliser.

Ten minutes later, the Malaysian girls nailed their second goal off striker Fatin Azmi.

But just when Malaysia thought that they had the three points in the bag, they conceded a penalty six minutes to the end, when defender Malini Nordin was faulted for bringing down Samantha Nierras inside the box.

Samantha had little trouble in blasting the ball to the top right hand corner of the Malaysian goal for the all-important equaliser.

AFF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

(All matches at the National Stadium unless indicated otherwise)

GROUP A: Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Laos

GROUP B: Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines

16 Oct 2011: VIETNAM 9 SINGAPORE 1 / INDONESIA 0 LAOS 11

17 Oct 2011: MYANMAR 2 PHILIPPINES 0 / THAILAND 8 MALAYSIA 1

18 Oct 2011: SINGAPORE 1 INDONESIA 3 / LAOS 0 VIETNAM 4

19 Oct 2011: PHILIPPINES 1 THAILAND 5 / MALAYSIA 0 MYANMAR 8

20 Oct 2011: INDONESIA 0 VIETNAM 14 / LAOS 5 SINGAPORE 0

21 Oct 2011: MYANMAR 1 THAILAND 3 / PHILIPPINES 2 MALAYSIA 2

FINAL GROUP STANDINGS

Group A

TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
Vietnam*	3	3	0	0	27	1	26	9
Laos*	3	2	0	1	16	4	12	6
Indonesia	3	1	0	2	3	26	-23	3
Singapore	3	0	0	3	2	17	-15	0

*Teams qualified to the Semi-final round

Group B

TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
Thailand*	3	3	0	0	16	3	13	9
Myanmar*	3	2	0	1	11	3	8	6
Philippines	3	0	1	2	3	9	-6	1
Malaysia	3	0	1	2	3	18	-15	1

*Teams qualified to the Semi-final round

SEMI-FINALS

23 Oct 2011: Vietnam vs Myanmar (1600) / Thailand vs Laos (1900)

THIRD-FOURTH PLACING / FINAL

25 Oct 2011: 3rd/4^th (1600) / Final (1900)