Many Myanmar athletes are busy preparing and practising for the 30th South East Asian Games to be held in the Philippines from November 30 to December 11.
The official drawing ceremony for the football tournament of the biennial regional multi-sport event took place in Manila on Tuesday.
Myanmar’s national U-22 men’s and women’s football teams will face with host country the Philippines in their group, according to the draw results of the 2019 SEA Games.
Myanmar’s men’s U-22 team is in Group A with host Philippines, 2017 bronze medalists Malaysia, Cambodia and Timor. Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Brunei and Singapore are in Group B.
Myanmar will face Malaysia in its opening match at Rizal Memorial Stadium on November 25, host Philippines in second match on November 27, Timor in their third match on November 29, and Cambodia as in the last match at Binan Stadium on December 2.
Semifinals and final matches will be held on December 7 and 10 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The national under-22 team has started training since September and plans to play three friendly matches in Qatar as preparation for the SEA Games.
“The grouping is not the most important thing. Most important is how well a team has been trained. If we prepare well, we will have the ability to compete well against any team,”said Velizar Popov, head coach of the men’s under 22 team.
“Despite respecting every competitor, we will not be scared and we will try to go beyond group stage. However, it is necessary to focus on the opening match of the group with Malaysia and win the match,’’ he added.
In women’s football tournament, Myanmar will compete against the Philippines and Malaysia in Group A. Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are in Group B.
Myanmar’s team will play the host country Philippines in its opening match on November 26 and Malaysia in the last match on November 29.
The women’s semifinals and final matches will be held on December 5 and 8 respectively.
The women’s team is planning to enter the China Invitational football tournament from November 4-12 as preparation for the SEA Games. In that tournament, Myanmar will face Brazil, New Zealand and host China.
Myanmar’s men’s under 22 team finished fourth, while the women’s team won bronze in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Ref;mmtimes.com