AFF WOMEN’S C’SHIP: THAILAND TAKE GROUP B; MYANMAR FINISH SECOND

VIENTIANE (21 Oct 2011) – Thailand came back from a goal down to beat Myanmar 3-1 as ten-women Philippines battled to a 2-2 draw in the final Group B match of the AFF Women’s Championship 2011.

With the win, Thailand will take on hosts Laos in the semi-finals while Myanmar will entertain Vietnam in the other tie.

In the match at the National Stadium, both the Philippines and Malaysia were eager to avoid the wooden spoon tag.

And while the Malaysians were attempting to exert control, it was the Philippines who nailed the first goal of the game when Kathleen Rodriguez capitalised on a Malaysian keeper Roszaini Bakar ‘s mistake to slot into an open goal.

But the loss of captain Marielle Benitez at the end of the first half would soon turn the tide in Malaysia’s favour despite the score being 1-0 to the advantage of the Philippines.

Three minutes after the restart, Malaysia took advantage of a poor defensive clearance from the Philippines for captain Angela Kais to score the equaliser.

Ten minutes later, the Malaysian girls nailed their second goal off striker Fatin Azmi.

But just when Malaysia thought that they had the three points in the bag, they conceded a penalty when defender Malini Nordin was faulted for bringing in down Samantha Nierras inside the box.

Samantha had little trouble in blasting the ball to the top right hand corner of the Malaysian goal for the all-important equaliser.

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