The Myanmar under-20 football team practise penalties at a training ground near Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, on July 27. Pic: Aung Tun Win

MYANMAR’S national under-20 coach, U Sann Win, said last week he was sure the team would make it to at least the semifinals of the ASEAN U20 Championships, which kicks off in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this week.

Calling the squad “a new generation” of Myanmar footballers, the former senior national coach said the teenagers already had the experience to put up a fierce challenge to any of nine rival Southeast Asian sides at the August 1-14 tournament.

Ten of the squad are former under-17 representatives who competed at the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) U17 Championships in Singapore last September. And while that team failed to live up to the hype following the senior side’s clinching of the Merdeka Cup a month earlier, U Sann Win said those players have matured well and have promising futures with Myanmar’s top team.

“Built out of former under-17 players, this team signals a bright future for our national (senior) team,” U Sann Win told The Myanmar Times before the squad flew out of Yangon on July 29.

Myanmar, the defending champions after having won the 2005 edition, have been drawn in Group A of the ASEAN tournament alongside Malaysia, Singa-pore, Laos and Brunei. Group B comprises hosts Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and East Timor.

“We’re not afraid of any teams in our group if their ages are the same (under 20), but the Malaysians can probably give us a bit of trouble,” U Sann Win said. “But, overall, we can advance to the semifinals.”

The top two teams of each group will progress to the semis on August 10 and 11, with Singapore and Malaysia also sure to be fancying their chances for a berth in the knockout round. Once out of the group stage, U Sann Win said he could make no guarantees.

“We can’t say for sure that we’re going to emerge the champions of this tournament because the team has only been training together for a little over a month.

“During this time, I’ve been focusing on the team playing to a format, their skills and also improving their stamina and speed,” said U Sann Win, who took over the under-20s in late May after being replaced as senior coach by 58-year-old Brazilian Marcos Falopa.

U Sann Win coached the national team to victory at last year’s Merdeka Cup in Malaysia, a task that falls to Falopa this year when the tournament is held from August 18-29.

The senior team is looking to defend its title against Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh and hosts Malaysia, as well as potentially African nations Zimbabwe and Lesotho, which are yet to confirm their participation. The tournament, which carries a US$10,000 cash prize, is important preparation for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bangkok this December.

U Sann Win, however, appears not to resent his position in charge of the under-20s and sees the role as an important part in building a strong senior squad.

“I think that by the 2009 SEA Games, most of my men will be there representing our nation. That’s why I keep pushing them,” he said.

“For their future success, we train them not only in football skills but also discipline,” he said in a veiled reference to the Opening Cup final on July 14 when national star Min Thu led his Commerce team in a walkout to protest a foul against Energy striker Naing Win. The debacle was only cleared up when the director general of the Ministry of Sports, U Thaung Htike, ordered the players back to the pitch.

“I teach my players how to control their minds during a match, and also that we should treat the referee as a king during a competition,” said U Sann Win, who last season coached the Ministry of Construction side.

He added that fans needn’t worry about overage players sneaking their way into the ASEAN U20 tournament this year.

“With an eye for their long-term future, we choose under-20 players not by their national identification cards, passports, or birth certificates but by checking their ages through X-rays and bone scans,” U Sann Win said.

At the AFC U17 Championships last year, seven of Myanmar’s top players were pulled from the team at the last minute when it was learned MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) would be used to confirm ages.