HOUSE OF THE WEEK
Unfinished project in South Okkalapa tsp
THIS two-storey house in South Okkalapa township represents unfinished business. more
Myanmar outclassed
(Volume 26, No. 512)
MYANMAR’s AFC Challenge Cup hopes were dashed on February 24, after loosing 5-0 to World Cup qualifiers, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Outclassed from the beginning of the match, Myanmar had conceded three goals within the first 15 minutes. DPRK’s Choe Myong-ho, Choe Chol-man and Pak Song all struck early goals which seemed to obliterate any chance Myanmar had of making the final.
Myanmar’s national coach, U Tin Myint Aung told The Myanmar Times that he was happy with his sides overall performance in Sri Lanka but stressed that his side needed more work to compete with other sides from outside SE Asia.
“Our players just lacked the strength and power of the DPRK side,” U Tin Myint Aung said via a phone interview.
“Unfortunately our side just lacked intensity and seemed tired. They played hard football for 90 minutes but we just seemed to fade after the 70 minute mark,” he said.
U Tin Myint Aung praised the DPRK’s attacking game as “almost perfect,” describing their four key attackers as simply “awesome”.
“For me their side was just so disciplined and psychologically they never seemed to loose their focus,” he said.
Myanmar will face Tajikistan, in the playoff for third place, missing two key players in Khin Maung Lwin and Tun Tun Win. Both players will miss the final match due to multiple yellow card penalties, making them ineligible to play.
Myanmar lost to Group A winners Tajikistan on February 20 in a game that some commentators described as a “perfect performance”.
DPRK will face Turkmenistan on February 27 in a highly anticipated clash that most predict will go in DPRK’s way.
DPRK has been in a class of its own throughout the tournament demolishing all teams convincingly except for Turkmenistan. DPRK beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0, India 3-0, and Myanmar 5-0 failing only to beat Turkmenistan in their first group game 1-1.
“That was our first match in Colombo. But now we have acclimatized. It will be a different result in the final,” DPRK’s national coach, Jo Tong-sop told www.the-afc.com.
