WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: THAILAND HELD; VIETNAM THRASH MALAYSIA

In the first round-robin matches, hosts Laos had held Myanmar to a 1-1 draw while for Thailand, they had overwhelmed Malaysia 14-0.

And this afternoon, Myanmar were full of confidence as they took the early lead off striker Khin Malar Tun, who dribbled past two Thai defenders before putting the ball beyond the reach of custodian Waraporn Boonsing.

With Myanmar 1-0 in front at the half, Thailand put pressure on the flanks through the hardworking duo of Junpen Seesraum and Nisa Romyen.

And in the 61st minute, Thailand got their equaliser they were looking for when captain Suphaphon Kaeobaen delivered a sublime free kick into the Myanmar goal.

But Malar Tun was again in her element when in the 80th minute of play, she broke through on the left for a shot to beat Waraporn for the second time in the afternoon.

And just when Myanmar feel confident that they have the points in the bag, defender Khin Moe Wai was penalised for a fault on Junpen inside the box for which referee Kim Sook Hee from Korea Republic was quick to point to the spot.

With Nisa’s first attempt disallowed for an infringement, her second try saw Myanmar keeper May Khin Yamin making a block, but the former was quick for the rebound to give Thailand the valuable one point.

Thailand’s next match will be against hosts Laos in two days at the same venue while Myanmar will take on Vietnam.

In the meantime, Vietnam did not have to sweat too much against Malaysia when they opened their scoring through Doan Kim Chi in the 17th minute before completing her brace five minutes to the end.

In between, Nguyen Thi Muon (21st and 68th minute), Tran Thi Kim Hong (29th), Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet (51st and 63rd) and Van Thi Thanh (73rd) were all on target for the SEA Games silver medallists.

CURRENT WOMEN’S FOOTBALL STANDINGS

1. THAILAND 4pts (+14)

2. VIETNAM 3pts (+8)

3. MYANMAR 2pts (=)

4. LAOS 1pt (=)

5. MALAYSIA 0pt (-22)