Courtesy: Xinhua


Myanmar to appear in AFF Futsal Championship 2009

YANGON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will make its fourth appearance in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Football Federation (AFF) Futsal (indoor football) Championship 2009 in Vietnam in June, according to the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) on Sunday.

Myanmar national futsal team will be in Group A along with teams from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in the 2009 AFF Futal Championship scheduled on June 14-20, the MFF said.

Host Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Timor Leste are in Group B. The Myanmar futsal team competed for the first time in the ASEAN futsal championship, which had been held since 2003, in May 2006. Myanmar thrashed Brunei 7-2 and lost to Thailand 22-3 in the group-stage, lost 5-3 to Indonesia in the semi-final and secured third place by defeating Cambodia 10-2 in the tournament.

Seven member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) and Australia competed in the 2007 AFF Futsal Championship in Bangkok, Thailand in March last year.

The Myanmar futsal team, which was coached by a Japanese coach, was eliminated from the group-stage after beating Brunei 10-3 and losing 11-2 to Thailand and 6-4 to Vietnam respectively in the 2007 edition.

Myanmar attended in the 2008 AFF Futsal Championship in Bangkok in August last year, participated by Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, host Thailand and Vietnam, and could not pass through the group-stage after beating the Philippines 6-2 and upset by Indonesia 4-2 and Thailand 7-2 respectively in the event.

Meanwhile, Myanmar held the 2009 National Open Futsal Invitational tournament, organized by the MFF Futsal Sub-Committee and mainly sponsored by U Hla Htay (Sara FC), at the Padethar Indoor Stadium in South Okkalar here last month to develop the futsal sport in the country.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com