Myanmar’s Than Than Htwe controls the ball during her side’s match against Malaysia in Vientiane on December 13.

MYANMAR’S U-23 women’s football side had to settle for a bronze medal last week, despite going through the 25th SEA Games in Laos undefeated.

With only five teams participating, organisers opted for a round robin format and Myanmar drew their opening three matches before smashing Malaysia 7-1 in their final game on December 13.

That result moved Myanmar into third on the standings with six points, two behind Thailand and Vietnam.

A win over either of those two sides would have been enough to put Myanmar into the final, but they could only manage a 2-2 draw with Thailand and 1-1 stalemate against Vietnam after being held by host Laos to a 1-1 draw in the opening match.

In the final in Vientiane on December 16, Vietnam beat Thailand 3-0.
Head coach U Aye Kyu Gyi said despite not improving in the medal standings his side had played better football than at the previous SEA Games, held in Thailand two years ago.

“At the 24th SEA Games in Thailand we also finished third but in that tournament we lost a match, whereas we didn’t lose any here,” U Aye Kyu Gyi said.

“It was clear to see that our players were trying so hard in these SEA Games matches but I think we were just a bit unlucky,” he said.

“In the matches against both Laos and Thailand we had decisions go against us. Twice against Laos two goals were disallowed for offside when they were clearly onside and then against Thailand the referee awarded them a penalty which, in my view, was not justified,” he told The Myanmar Times following the win against Malaysia.

Myanmar dominated their final match from the outset and Malaysia was constantly on the back foot. Khin Marlar Tun opened the scoring after 18 minutes before Moe Moe War added another in the 24th minute. In the 32nd minute, Aye Nandar Hlaing got her name on the scoresheet and then San Yu Naing scored two minutes later. Just before halftime, Malaysia’s Norhanisa Yahya pulled a goal back for her side, beating Myanmar keeper May Khin Ya Min. The rout continued in the second half with My Nilar Htway scoring in the 64th minute followed by late goals from Margarett Marri and Khin Moe Wai, in the 80th and 87th minutes respectively.

But U Aye Kyu Gyi admitted that his team still had weaknesses that needed to be rectified. “I think all of the women’s football teams at the SEA Games had at least some weaknesses and my team was no exception. Especially, we struggled to finish off the chances we created.”

“But I am satisfied with my players’ efforts. Some players could play well despite carrying injuries. We mixed new players and old ones in these matches. The more inexperienced players were a bit inconsistent but the older players did well to support them,” he said.

He said Myanmar needed to place more emphasis on developing young talent if it was going to be successful at future SEA Games.

“If you look at the Laotian and Malaysian teams, they used many young players and focused on speed and power,” he said.