YANGON (16 April 2014) – Yoshinori Kumuda, the chief coach of the Myanmar national women’s coach, believes that teamwork is the key as he looks to mastermind a fifth-place finish in the upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 in Vietnam.
Myanmar qualified for the competition on an unbeaten record as they defeated Group D opponents India and Palestine comfortably and managed to hold Chinese Taipei in an impressive campaign where they did not concede a single goal.
Despite being one of the minnows in the tournament, Kumada is adamant that their teamwork would hold the key during the championship where their eyes are firmly on the prestigious fifth-place finish with a World Cup berth at stake.
“If you look at my team there are no key players as we believe in teamwork and collective effort,” he said.
“The training has been going really well and our main goal is to raise to the challenges of ASEAN countries as the match against Thailand is crucial in our group and if we manage to beat them we will be in the playoff for the fifth-position and a win there would take us to the World Cup.
“We can create Myanmar’s football history in Ho Chi Minh City by booking a place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 and that would be possible by winning the playoff match.
“China and Korea Republic are the favourites to progress as the group winners and runners-up so the match against Thailand would be key in Group B.”
Kumada also backed his native Japan as the favourites to clinch the trophy. The Japanese are the reigning world champions and are in Group A alongside Asian reigning champions Australia, hosts Vietnam and Jordan.
He also took time to describe the current women’s football situation in Myanmar and he is optimistic about the future.
“Currently our women’s football is lagging behind our regional ASEAN counterparts but there are plans in place so the future looks bright.
“Setting up an academy and initiating a semi-pro level women’s national league is under the long-term plan of Myanmar Football Federation (MFF).
“The fundamentals of development and progress are very simple: teach the youth, raise the number of qualified coaches, train and work hard and play plenty of friendly matches with quality sides,” he added.
