| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam national under-18 team crashed out of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-18 Youth Championship following a 7-0 loss to Myanmar at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon yesterday.
The young Wasps slipped a place to fourth in Group ‘B’ after a second consecutive defeat and are out of the running after initially topping the group in the first round of matches.
In contrast, Myanmar’s victory revived their hopes of advancing to the knock-out round on home soil to make it a three-way fight for qualification.
The hosts, needing a win to stay in contention, calmed nerves after Eant Maw Oo opened the scoring in the ninth minute.
The young Bruneians fell further behind after Naing Ko Ko headed in Myat Kaung Khant’s cross in the 24th minute before Naing Tun began his scoring spree to make it 3-0.
Aung Tun bagged a quick-fire double in a space of a minute to effectively kill the tie with Ko Ko grabbing his second three minutes later.
Aung Tun completed a rare quadruple from the spot in the 77th minute to wrap up a good night for the hosts.
The young forward had also indicated that the win has helped ease any anxieties after their minor setback against Indonesia in their group opener.
“We were under pressure to perform after the last game. The win has put us in a good frame of mind for the next match” said the four-goal hero.
In the other game, Vietnam asserted their dominance with a comfortable 5-0 win over the Philippines who stayed bottom of the five-team table.
The national under-18 team have another shot of producing their best ever tally but the odds will be heavily stacked against them in an encounter with Indonesia who will be determined to cement a spot in the last four.
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