MANDALAY (13 March 2015) – Myanmar took the initiative in Group A of the first round of Asian qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics with an emphatic 16-0 defeat of Sri Lanka.
The Group A hosts took their goal tally into double figures by the interval of the one-sided encounter at the Mandalar Thiri Stadium but in truth the match was all but over as a contest with barely six minutes played as two goals from Naw Ar Lo Wer Phaw (2nd and 4th) and the first of Khin Moe Wai’s five-goal haul had Myanmar 3-0 up averaging a goal every two minutes.
Naw Ar Lo Wer Phaw completed her hat-trick five minutes before the interval with Myanmar’s 11th of the first half after Khin Moe Wai weighed in with four more goals (16th, 20th, 21st and 26th), Sri Lanka defender Nisanala Sewwandi Manawudu netted an 18th minute own goal, and substitute Win Theingi Tun scored twice (23rd and 40th) with her first coming just 60 seconds after replacing fellow forward Khin Marlar Tun.
Yee Yee oo, Myanmar’s only scorer during their 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup campaign, made it 12-0 three minutes after the restart and added her second and the ASEAN nation’s 14th in the 51st minute, two minutes after Win Theingi Tun hit her hat-trick.
The 20-year-old midfielder took her personal tally to four after Sri Lanka had stemmed the deluge of Myanmar goals until the 77th minute before scoring her fifth and her country’s 16th of the match one minute into stoppage time.
Sri Lanka are next in action in three-team Group A when they take on India, who provide Myanmar’s final opponents two days later.
Three group winners from Round 1 advance to Round 2, where they join Thailand and Vietnam, with a place in the final round going to the side that finishes top of the five-team table.
The top-two sides from Qualification Final Round – which features reigning Asian champions Japan, 2014 FC Asian Cup runners-up Australia, DPR Korea, China, and Korea Republic – will fly the Asian flag at the 2016 Summer Olympics’ women’s football tournament.
