YANGON (20 April 2014) – Myanmar skipper Moe Moe War believes a solid performance at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 in Vietnam would help them to qualify for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Myanmar will face China, Korea Republic and Thailand in Group B in the tournament starting next month in Ho Chi Minh City.
“Our target is to qualify for the World Cup and we believe that we can do it,” said the Myanmar captain.
“We have some tough matches specially against China and Korea (Republic) but we certainly see ourselves finishing third in the group stages and book a place in the 5th place playoff which will enable us to fulfill our dream of playing in the World Cup.
“I believe that Japan, Australia and China are amongst the favourites to claim the title in Vietnam and I put Japan as the main contenders.”
War also stressed on the importance of being in the Asian Cup and the potential benefit from playing in the World Cup if the South East Asian country manage to qualify.
“It (qualifying for the World Cup) would do wonders for our women’s football development. We will proudly represent our country at the world stage and that would be more important than the result itself.
“There are a lot of positives in Myanmar women’s football right now. The Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) are planning to hold a Women’s National League at the semi-pro level and there are plans for a women’s football academy as well.
“Currently we are at the same level as regional neighbours Vietnam and Thailand but we would like to move a step further at the level of Japan and China so there is lot of work to be done.
“Our strength is that we have a strong women’s football culture in Myanmar. In the past three regional championships we fell short of winning the title but positives are there as we managed to reach the semi-final stages in all those competitions.
“We must keep working hard, I am sure the results will keep coming,” she added.
