MYANMAR’S national under-19 team missed out on a place in the AFC U-19 Championship after finishing fifth in their group of six at a qualifying tournament this month in Bangkok.

Myanmar scored only three goals while conceding 12 in three draws against Group E rivals Chinese Taipei, Maldives and Laos, and two losses against Japan and Thailand, who both advanced to the Asian Football Confederation youth championship in Saudi Arabia next year.

“The game with Japan was a big lesson for my players and the Japanese side were excellent. It was a great challenge for my players who were nervous and committed many errors, especially in defence,” said under-19 coach U Sann Win after returning from the November 6-18 tournament.

“We don’t need to be disappointed because we learned a lot from the game with Japan and there’s no need for excuses,” he said of the 0-8 loss.

Still, coming away without a win and being held to draws by the Maldives (3-3) and Laos (0-0) is hardly encouraging and U Sann Win fell back on the familiar reasoning that Myanmar needs more international exposure to be competitive.
“We all have to scrutinise ourselves if we are going to progress further in the coming tournaments,” he said, adding that losing to Thailand only 0-1 was a positive result.

However the scoreless draw with last-placed Chinese Taipei had U Sann Win searching for ways Myanmar may be able to gain the edge they need.

“One thing I’ve taken from this qualifying competition is that we should train our players to develop stronger body builds because if the game is particularly close the team with strong bodies gets the advantage,” surmised the former senior men’s coach, who took up training the under-19s when Brazilian Marcos Falopa arrived earlier this year.

Sixteen teams out of the 34 nations in seven groups will advance to the AFC U-19 Championship, with 13 sides already assured a berth.

Defending champions North Korea edged out China to top Group F, while their kinsmen South Korea won Group G ahead of AFC newbies Australia. Iran topped Group B, followed by Lebanon, while Uzbekistan cruised to victory in Group D with Yemen taking the second spot. Syria and Tajikistan advanced from Group C, leaving two places from Group A, whose matches wrap up on November 28, as well as an opening for the best third-placed team from all groups. Hosts Saudi Arabia were guaranteed a spot.

But while the continent’s stars soak up the limelight, spare a though for Guam: the luckless Southeast Asian side opened their Group G campaign on November 6 with a 0-28 annihilation by a merciless South Korea.

They carried on to concede 72 goals in five matches without scoring once.