Myanmar’s Zaw Min Tun celebrates scoring their goal against Cambodia during AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 at Thuwanna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar, on 23 November 2016. Photo: AFF
Yangon — Cambodia became the first side to be knocked out after they suffered a 3-1 defeat to hosts Myanmar.
It did not look to be the case initially though, as they had the brighter start to the game and had the lead just after 15 minutes. Sos Suhana scored after superb work from Chan Vathanaka, who drew all the attention after making a run in before cutting back for Suhana.
But that was all that went well for the Cambodians, who could not withstand the subsequent pressure from the White Angels.
Defender Zaw Min Tun scored twice from set-pieces in a five-minute span to give his country the lead at the break, before Aung Thu wrapped up the win with a clinical finish 11 minutes into the second half.
Myanmar subsequently slowed down the pace of the game, and while Cambodia certainly tried to chase back the score, fatigue hindered them, which meant that the hosts were able to see out the game.
Post-match quotes:
Cambodia coach —
Lee Tae Hoon:
“It’s always disappointing to lose a game. In the first half we had a good note for our team when we had the ball but our young boys made big mistakes from set pieces. They were told to man-mark but they forgot and that was a big mistake which only made things more difficult for us. I hope my players better understand the need to maintain concentration and finish the game. We need quality and passion for the next game and we need to take responsibility for the country.”
Myanmar coach —
Gerd Zeise:
“We could have finished a little bit better but maybe we’ll do that in the next match. The pressure is very high. The pressure was high before the Viet Nam game and it’s equally as high now as we had to win to stay in the competition.”—AFF