22 July
IN their second friendly match in Japan, the Myanmar U-18 national football team were de-feated by Japan’s Kindai Uni-versity Football Club by a single goal yesterday at the J-Green Sakai training center in Osaka, Japan.
While the Japanese team had better physique and stam-ina, Myanmar players were quick in their response and used a systematic strategy right from the kick off, and the first half ended with no score for either team.
In the second half, both teams changed their tactics and substituted players.
As the match was a friendly one and to help players build experience and prepare for the upcoming international tourney, team Myanmar used nearly all the players, including those out-side the key player lists, with six substitutions.
After a relatively quiet start to the second half, Japan jumped into action, scoring their first and the winning goal at 65 minutes.
Myanmar tried hard to equalize, but failed, and the score remained unchanged till the final whistle, and the match ended with a narrow 0-1 win for the Japanese local football club.
The Myanmar U-18 still have one more friendly match in Osaka, Japan on 24 July, and the team will return to Yangon, Myanmar on 26 July.—Lynn Thit (Tgi)
