MYANMAR learned a painful yet valuable lesson from their first encounter with China which should better prepare the squad for the coming Southeast Asian Games, coach Marcos Falopa said last week.

Speaking ahead of Myanmar’s second-leg World Cup qualifier against China on October 28, Falopa said the team’s heavy loss in Foshan, China, a week earlier had failed to dampen his enthusiasm.

“These World Cup qualifying matches with China are for the SEA Games. The exposure that my players got from the game with China is very important for the SEA Games and most of them had a good chance to get some experience,” the Brazilian said.

China trounced Myanmar 7-0 in their first leg, giving the Asian giants a margin that relieved them of much pressure before the rematch in Kuala Lumpur.

“China is a strong team. They played a lot of one- or two-touch football. Our players did their best, but we could not compete with them in physique or technique,” Falopa told Chinese media following the match in Foshan.

Falopa, though, is keeping his sights firmly set on Myanmar’s regional rivals in Southeast Asia and said his goal is for the side to make the SEA Games final in Thailand this December.

“For those under-23 players in our team, playing with China is very constructive for the coming SEA Games and I hope they do much better than the previous presentation.

“For the SEA Games, I don’t think about the semifinal – I believe we will make it to the final,” Falopa said, warning that Group A rivals Thailand would be their main obstacle to securing the gold.

Thailand this month sealed their place in the second stage of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers by beating Macau 6-1 at home and 7-1 away.

Falopa said he would choose 18 players for the SEA Games from the squad that faced China. They will be joined by another 10 players from the under-20 team.

But Falopa stressed his players needed more international matches before Myanmar could expect better results in wider Asia.

“For the defensive play, they have improved a lot but they still need to learn more and we will fix it.

“Myanmar need time to get improvements in Asia,” Falopa said.

“I expect to play two international games (not including the second leg against China) before the SEA Games,” he added.