Delta United’s Argentinean defender Leon celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Magway.

DELTA United FC and Magway FC last week slugged out the Myanmar National League Cup’s first draw, with a thrilling 1-1 stalemate at Yangon’s Aung San Stadium on May 19.

Delta opened the scoring when defender Leon – one of three Argentines in their starting lineup – headed truly from a Soe Thiha Aung corner after 34 minutes. Magway hit back in the opening minute of the second half through Aung Myint Aye, who headed past Delta goalkeeper Thiha Sithu.

Interest in the match was high – largely thanks to the debut of Delta’s Argentinean trio – and the crowd was almost enough to fill Aung San Stadium.
The atmosphere inside the ground was electric and both the Delta and Magway supporters, draped in the colours of their resp-ective sides, created plenty of noise.

The players duly responded, producing the most exciting match of the cup competition to date.

Delta coach U San Win started the match with his Argentine trio on the pitch, with Rodrigo up front, Fernando in midfield and Leon employed as a defender.
But it was the latter’s attacking prowess in the air that brought about the opening goal after a brief period of dominance from Magway.

Man-of-the-match Leon had several chances to open the scoring, with Delta captain Soe Thiha Aung providing plenty of dangerous aerial balls for the tall defender.

Rodrigo looked to have put Delta ahead after 20 minutes but his header came back off the post after beating keeper Hein Kyaw Thu.

The breakthrough came after 34 minutes when Leon met Soe Thiha Aung’s corner and headed through a crowded goalmouth, prompting celebrations that saw the defender booked by referee U Hla Min.

After a disappointing first half, Magway equalised almost immediately when Aung Myint Aye found himself one-on-one with the Delta keeper and produced a cool finish, heading the ball into the net.

With the scores level and both team desperate to take the lead, the match sometimes got a bit willing and several players suffered injur-ies. After 59 minutes, U San Win was forced to replace the cramp-afflicated Fernando for Tin Zaw Moe and forward Hla Aye Htway was brought on for Sunday Thein.

But as the match wore on, the “home-grown” Magway side, which featured local stars like Sithu Win, Bo Bo Aung and the goalscorer Aung Myint Aye, continued to gain the ascendancy thanks to their better fitness levels.

Magway’s long balls caused plenty of problems for the Delta defenders and their tight defence snuffed out most of Delta’s forward thrusts. Delta keeper Thiha Sithu frequently had to leave his area to smother the ball in front of the oncoming Magway strikers, part-icularly the dangerous Sithu Win.

After 76 minutes the Delta custodian was again called into action, saving well from a cleanly-struck Tun Min Oo free kick.

The Magway midfielder then had two headed chances late on to win the match for his side but Thiha Sithu was equal to the challenge, seeing out the three minutes of injury time to earn his side a valuable point. Delta United coach U San Win said afterwards he was disappointed with his side’s performance but expected them to improve with more training and match practice.

“My team could not play as well as I hoped. But the Argentine players have only had five days to practice here [in Myanmar] and I hope they will play well in combination with the rest of the team in the coming matches,” U San Win said, adding that he had hoped his side could nick a winner in the second half.

Magway’s head coach, U Kyi Lwin, hit out at Delta’s policy of hiring foreign players.

“I think a team can’t win if it is dependent on the efforts of just three [foreign] players. I want to also encourage the other teams not to hire foreign players,” U Kyi Lwin said. “My team is home made. We have enough practice to compete well with [Delta’s] foreign players.”