Myanmar to participate in TP.HCM Cup Invitational soccer tournament
26/9/2008 18:06
Myanmar national soccer team will take part in the forthcoming TP.HCM Cup
Invitational soccer tournament at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam next week, according to the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF)
today.
The Myanmar national footballers have been trained since early this
month for the Ho Chi Minh Cup invitational soccer tournament scheduled on Oct.
1-5, the MFF said, adding that it will be the first time for the Myanmar team,
coached by Brazilian Marcos Antonio Falopa, to attend the tournament which has
been held since 1995.
Four soccer teams -- Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and
South Korea University selections -- will play round-robin matches in the TP.HCM
Cup, hosted by Vietnam as a preparation for the ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asian) Football Federation (AFF) Championship soccer tournament in December,
which will offer US$25,000 for first prize, US$15,000 for second and 10,000 for
third, it said.
It will be the third appearance for the Myanmar team under
the responsibility of Falopa and also its third international competition in
this year.
Myanmar participated in the AFC Challenge Cup football tournament
in Hyderabad, India, from July 30 to Aug. 13. Myanmar beat Nepal and Sri Lanka
3-0 and 3-1 respectively and lost to DPR Korea 1-0 in Group B. Myanmar was
defeated by India 1-0 in the semifinal and lost again to DPR Korea 4-0 in the
third-place playoff and finished fourth.
Myanmar also finished fourth in the
Indonesia Independence Invitational Cup soccer tournament in Jakarta from Aug.
21 to 29. Myanmar crushed Cambodia 7-1 and lost 4-0 to Indonesian national team
in the group stage and was defeated 5-3 by Libya U-23 in the semifinals and 1-0
by Indonesian U-21 in the third-place playoff.
Myanmar will also compete in
two other tournaments abroad this year, the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia in October
and the AFF Championship in Thailand and Indonesia in December.
With a
glorious history in Asian soccer, Myanmar's national senior team had won five
times ASEAN champions from 1965 to 1973 and claimed the Asian Games title in
1966 and 1970.
Xinhua
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