News: Myanmar Football Thread

Thanks, yes, its a good thing cuz teams like YUFC would flood the team with foreign players without the limit.

Did Myanmar play Thailand yesterday ?

Did not see/read anywhere. So, probably not.
There is a break in MNL the weekend of Feb 24. Instead, some teams are playing friendlies with Thai teams. BEC Tero Sasana will be on tour of Myanmar playing Yadanarbon, Ayerawaddy (Asia Cup team) and Hanthawaddy.
Kanbawza goes over the border to play Chiang Rai in Thailand. Interestingly, haven't heard if Yangon United is playing any friendlies - maybe we will find out this week!

How do you guys feel about Yangon and Ayeyawady's AFC Cup debut outing?

Mixed.
Ayeyawady did much better than expected. Basically, one bad game at home (0-3 loss against Arema) prevented them from moving to the round of 16, where a tie would have been sufficient. Their home wins against NaviBank and Kelantan (recently the Malaysian FA Cup winners) were a pleasant surprise and commendable. Not sure if they will qualify next year, but it provided great experience to the team, esp the younger Myanmar boys.
Disappointed with Yangon United, not as much the performance but the outcome. They were at par with all the teams showing that they belong at this level. They were poised to win (and should have won) all three home games but did not win any. Plus they should have gotten at least two ties away against Home United and Citizen. These are matches where team manager has a role to play. While I did not watch the matches, I still think some tactical moves would have prevented Yangon the missed points. A KEY learning for Yangon is they need to play all 90+ minutes (late goals from Chonburi, Citizen), and get maximum points possible at home. If they can build on these lessons they will progress further next year, since their chances for Cup qualification are higher. [I understand the team manager Eric Williams has been fired, is that true?]
I suppose for the foreseeable future the home games will be played in the afternoons and not under the floodlights (energy shortage!!) so they should take full advantage.
Another item to consider is the 2nd MNL team (Ayeyawady) went directly into the Cup competition I think because of Indonesian fiasco, otherwise they had to go through a qualifying game. So that's another heads up for Myanmar teams next year. 2 teams may or may not make the proper tournament.
Finally, I am keenly watching KBZ and how they perform in Singapore Cup. Apparently they should have won by multiple goals against Wellington, but at least they won. Hopefully they will beat Loyola from the Philippines and make it to the semis. I bring KBZ up because they have a better chance to make AFC Cup next year, so this should be good experience for them.

Good luck to all the Kumbawza fans. I read that there is a passionate football Myanmar fan base in Singapore that help supported that team in the Singapore Cup. It should make for a lively game against Loyola in the quarterfinals as there is also a sizeable Filipino fanbase that will show up. Kumbawza are clear favourites in this match, but in elimination matches like these, upsets can still happen. In any case, this kind of games will provided good experience for the
AFC club competitions ahead for both teams. Here is to a fun and competitive match.

Hello Pelefan. The wierd part is (I think) it is a two leg match but both being played in Singapore!

Yep thats correct.

I agree with you. I heard that Yangon changed coach and they also replaced two foreign players. Kind of sad for the coach and foreign players but the season is heating up and Yangon wants to win the league. Yes, they should have won all their home games. So close...

I was sad about Ayeyawady's 0-3 loss to Arema but Arema also beat Navibank 6-2. Navibank is a good team. Man U beat Arsenal 8-2, and Man City beat Man U 6-1, so amount of goals are not to judge the quality, but Arema is a good team and they were on fire. Arema also just defeated Hong Kong champions Kitchee. I'm glad that Ayeyawady got to play against all these teams.

I agree with you on the level. Even if luck was involved in Ayeyawady's victories or Yangon's nearly-wins, you need skill for luck to help you. If it was Barcelona vs. Ayeyawady, will Ayeyawady win? One can say the ball is round. hahaha. But you need some skill to force luck to help you. No skill at all, it will be very difficult for luck to help you. Therefore, the teams' quality is not so far away, if they are lower. For that, I'm happy.

I thought Kanbawza will beat Woodlands. Not that I underestimated Woodlands, I just had faith in KBZ's ability. But what Myanmar fans should know is the clubs are different from national teams. Therefore, we cannot judge clubs from Cambodia and Brunei just by their national team's results because these clubs are something like our Finance & Revenue FC back then where top national players gathered. What's even better for them is that they have foreigners while F&R did not. Phnom Penh Crown is a good team, and the Brunei team DPMM are leading the S. League, go figure. Loyola Sparks is a team that is specially made. I'm sure there are other good national team players that are not present in that team, but it's a star studded team. And the Philippines national team is pretty good. I hope Myanmar fans are not ignorant about these things and hope they won't curse at KBZ if something happens. But I'm confident in KBZ.

I have read that KBZ has 6 or so current national team players on their team. Is that correct? Loyola has only 2 current men's national team players, the Younghusbands I believe, plus some players who have had national youth team experience and previous men's experience in the past. Because of their performance recently, some of these other players have been recalled for the current friendlies in June to see if they can fit in the national team setup again.
Also a few key players for Loyola were not available for the game or were fielded for a limited period of time against Geylang United. I think that almost everyone will be available come July when they face KBZ since the league season will be over by then.
Nevertheless I still think KBZ should be the clear favourite because of the experience factor. However in Cup competitions, anything can happen, so I think Loyola still has a chance. Loyola have quality imports who have had experience playing in the different levels of the Korean leagues.

Anyway, I hope our respective fans fill up the stadium in Singapore. It will make for a lively atmosphere at the game as well as increase the chance of the Singaporeans inviting us again in future editions of the Singapore Cup if we can show that they can turn a profit by having us there.

Hi Pelefan,

http://www.sleague.com/match-preview/singapore-cup/2012/may/2012-05-19/kbz-fc
The national team players are made up of senior and junior players. Among the senior players who don't play in the junior team, none of them are stars like the Younghusbands, and neither are they staple. But KBZ has good junior players who get called up for senior team. Everyone of them are fighting for their place in NT. Goalkeeper Kyaw Zin Htet has very tough competition from last year's Sea Games keeper Thiha Sithu of Ayeyawady Utd. Soe Min Oo was not fielded in Sea Games even though I think he travelled. Mai Aik Naing was on some kind of rotation in Sea Games because there were players like Kyaw Ko Ko (Zeyar Shwe Myay), Min Min Thu (i don't know which club he's in but not KBZ or Ygn), Yan Aung Kyaw (Yangon), and fellow KBZ mate Kyaw Zayar Win who did not travel to Singapore due to injury. If there are 6 current senior national team players, how are the other teams in MNL going to compete? Yangon United, the defending champions, will be a very weak team. But senior NT players or veterans are not necessarily the best, so KBZ have good players.

Compared to MNL clubs, Loyola, with the Younghusband brothers and Hartmann brothers, is more star studded. Phnom Penh Crown has Khim Borey and Yotha FC has Lamnao Singto. I know that all these leagues have other good clubs; Crown doesn't win the Cambodian league all the time, and it seems like another team can lead the UFL, and I'm not too familiar with the Laotian league but they're working closely with Vietnam or something. But compared to MNL clubs, these clubs have more of the best players of their respective countries.

I think Singapore will invite again but I hope fans from both sides will turn up to make a great atmosphere! Cheers!

I meant Crown doesn't*. Typo corrected with edit.

Thanks for the clarification avocado. I guess both teams are similar in that they have a combination of national men's and youth team players. I wasn't familiar with your league and thought maybe they might be like the top tier leagues in Scotland or Spain where most of the national team players are concentrated in just 2 teams that dominate their league and win the championship between the two of them almost every year.

As for Loyola, the Younghusbands are the only true superstars in the squad. Only Mark Hartman, of the Hartman brothers, plays for the squad right now and he has only played in the U-23 team in the SEA games and never for the men's squad. Even though I think he is good enough, I am not sure when he will or will ever be called up for the Azkals as unfortunately he has some attitude problems in the past that might prevent him from joining the squad. His brother Matthew Hartman is currently suspended by the PFF for one year for leaving the U-23 team in the middle of a tournament, and so is not eligible to play for Loyola in this tournament or any other until the end of this year.

They also have some quality imports from Korea and Italy and some good former national men's team players to help support the Younghusbands

BTW, Loyola is a relatively new squad that has never won the UFL championships. The Younghusbands joined them for the first time this year. They are currently in 3rd place in the UFL with one or two games in hand over the 2 teams ahead of them in the standings and still have a chance to win the championship this year.

Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification too. Oh How I wish the national players are concentrated in just two teams. That way, the teams will do better in international competitions, hahaha. But it's not good for the league.

Oh KBZ were fourth last season. Many people mistaken them to be champions. This season, the top 6 teams are close on points. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Myanmar_National_League

2010 Season Top 5:
1. Yadanarbon
2. Zeyar Shwe Myay
3. Yangon
4. KBZ
5. Magway

2011 Top 5:
1. Yangon
2. Ayeyawady
3. Zeyar Shwe Myay
4. Kanbawza
5. Okkthar United

Champions Yadanarbon only managed an 8th placing with a terrible season. But they bounced back this season.

Oh, don't check wikipedia for players list in Myanmar clubs. Almost none (I think actually it's really none) of the wiki pages of MNL teams are updated. KBZ's is definitely not.

The other thing I wanted to point out is that the UFL, the top tier football league in the Philippines only started 3 years ago but has improved a lot in that time, especially this year, with a lot of national team players based abroad coming home to lend their expertise to the local league. It is gratifying to see that within 3 years of being established the local clubs have already demonstrated that they can compete internationally in their very first competition abroad by advancing to the second round of the Singapore Cup against long established teams. This just goes to show that the improvement in the national team is also mirrored at the club level which is important if Philippine football wants to sustain and continue its progress in the sport. Nevertheless it is because of Loyola's relative inexperience that I judge that KBZ as the clear favourite in this upcoming match.

Since you mentioned Yotha FC of Laos, I just read in a Laotian website, that including Lamnao, there are no fewer than seven national team players in this Yotha side, including goalkeeper Souvanhpheng Phanthavong and talented forward Visay Phaphouvanin. They however will be facing a strong Japanese side based in Singapore Albirex Niigata in the first roun.

That's wonderful, I'm happy for Philippines football.

Thank you for saying KBZ are the favorites but all I wanted was for the Myanmar fans to know that clubs are clubs and national teams are national teams. And I also wanted Philippine fans to know that KBZ was better than Woodlands in game play. KBZ is for bigger S. League teams. Just because they are from Myanmar doesn't make them weaker.

Let's have a fun game. I'm sad about Yotha's loss.

avocados,

Understood. Too bad about Yotha's loss. Our teams are now the only 2 remaining foreign clubs in the Cup that are not also part of the S League. At least one of us will make the semis. Here is to a fun and lively game in July.

Pretty good AFC22 so far. Convincing win against Vietnam today. Malaysia-Vietnam game will be crucial for us, hopefully Vietnam wins that should help us. Happy about the floodlights, even individual seats at Thuwanna. Not to mention the new Lotto National Team jerseys (anyone know how I can get one outside Myanmar?). I read somewhere it is K10,000, a lot for Myanmar, but only US$12 which is a steal when you compare with other jerseys.
Also, does anyone know if MFF reads this forum? Would really want U Zaw Zaw to bring in at least one foreign high caliber club to play friendly this year in Yangon.

Myanmar 0 - 0 South Korea. Huge point today for us! I don't recall a draw against a continental powerhouse in an official tournament in recent memory at any age level. Did anyone watch? Feedback? Let's remained focus on the next two games!!

Excellant result, Of course many will tell us it was only U22, but how often do you see a side like South Korea dropping points against a side you would deem as much weaker, no often!! Doing the region really proud and I hope they qualify, finals look like they will be held in Oman or Thailand, and at this moment probably Thailand to make the 16th spot - there going out!

Fantastic 2 - 1 win against Malaysia today. Direct qualification, congratulations. Imagine, Myanmar might end up representing ASEAN for U22 Finals as the only team, which is a pleasant surprise.
Watched live stream (don't recall the last time from Myanmar!). Our counter attack is incredible. I think we got a little excited the last 10-15 min. Needed a little ball movement instead of making needless desperate clearance, or forcing passes. Kyaw Ko Ko did not play as he was hurt. Kyi Lin is really gifted, saw a little cocky attitude in him which is a good thing! Goalie had a solid game. Could not have asked for more from our team. Really happy. Wish I was in Yangon cheering our team. Stadium went electric when the goals were scored.
There was an article on Myanmar Times where our Korean coach rightly stated that we have the capability to beat any ASEAN country on a given day, but not consistently. He feels that our technique is equal but we lack fitness. So, as part of team preparation he and his staff focused a lot on fitness. Maybe that's what our national team now needs as part of AFF Cup preparation.
GO MYANMAR!!!

Congrats to Myanmar.