Myanmar youth win U-19 Asean football championship
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Myanmar beat Vietnam 3-4 in the final match of the Asean Youth Football Championship-Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy in Brunei on Saturday.
In the league for players under 19, Myanmar went ahead with an opening goal at the 16th minute, when Vietnamese goalkeeper Le Van Truong mistakenly gave the ball to Myanmar's Myo Ko Tun, who took full advantage of the scoring opportunity.
Van Long levelled the result about 20 minutes later, and Ho Tuan Tai made it 2-1 for Vietnam early in the second half. But Ko Tun scored his second goal with a straight header that knocked out Truong who, just three minutes later, let slip a third goal courtesy of Maung Soe.
Vietnamese Nguyen Cong Phuong, who missed a number of chances, finally found the net, making it 3-3 for his team at the 74th minute. He was later voted best player of the tournament. However, Aung Thu made a solo break into Vietnam's defence and scored the winning goal.
After the tournament, the team will return home and prepare as hosts of the coming Asean Football Federation U19 Championship next month.
Vietnam held Myanmar to a 1-1 draw at the AFF U-19 Women's Football Championships yesterday in Bangkok. The team will face off against hosts Thailand in the finals tomorrow.
Last year, Myanmar was the Dream Asia Award winner. An article by Asian Football Confederation attributed much of the success to businessman Zaw Zaw, founder and executive chairman of Ayeyarwady Bank, who now takes charge of Myanmar Football Federation (MFF).
The national team held some highly impressive records in international tournaments back in the late 60's, winning the Asian Games gold medal twice in 1966 and 1970 as well coming in as runners-up for the AFC Asian Cup in 1968.
The country is hosting the AFC U-19 Championship in October, where Asian football's finest young players will be determined to showcase their talents. As a warm-up to the event, MFF hosted the MFF AYA Bank Football Festival 2014 together with Ayeyarwady Bank. A total of 1,200 children took part in the festival, aimed at popularising football and healthy lifestyles under the MFF's Grassroots Football Plans and FIFA 11 For Health Programme. In total, six Grassroots Football Festival Plans will be held this year.
