8 June

THE MYANMAR U-23 national football team lost their friendly match against Viet Nam by two goals yesterday at the Viet Tri stadium in Viet Nam.

The exhibition match was held in preparation for the 2019 SEA Games.

Both  teams  played  ener-getically from the start, but the Viet Nam defenders proved to be  too  strong  for  Myanmar  strikers.

Myanmar  lined  up  with  Hein  Phyo  Win,  Ye  Min  Thu,  Ye Yint Aung, Kyaw Myo Naing, Lwin  Moe  Aung,  Myat  Kaung  Khant,  Win  Naing  Tun,  Hein  Htet  Aung,  Kyaw  Thu  Tun,  Captain and Goalkeeper Phone Thitsar  Min,  and  Aung  Naing  Win.

Team  Myanmar  was  led  by head coach Velizar Popov.

The  match  proved  to  be  thrilling for Viet Nam fans. In the  early  minutes  of  the  first  half,  Myanmar  launched  at-tacks,  but  Viet  Nam  kept  the  possession of the ball, denying Myanmar a chance to score.

At  the  14th  minute,  Viet  Nam scored the opening goal. A kick by its striker took Myan-mar keeper Phone Thitsar Min by surprise and landed the ball in the net.

Myanmar  strikers  tried  to respond and got golden op-portunities  to  even  the  score,  but  team  Viet  Nam’s  keeper  was too strong and was able to clear the ball and make special saves.

In  the  second  half,  team  Myanmar changed its tactics.

Team  Viet  Nam  won  its  second goal at 75 minutes, with a neat and tidy kick which land-ed the ball straight into the net.

Win Naing Tun was issued a red card for rough play at 76 minutes.

Myanmar tried to equalize in  the  later  minutes,  but  with  just 10 players, Myanmar failed to change the result.

Although  Myanmar  got  several chances to score, Viet Nam  defenders  held  strong,  and  the  match  ended  with  a  score  of  2-0  in  favour  of  Viet  Nam. – Lynn Thit (Tgi)