THE Myanmar women’s under-19 team won their ticket to next year’s AFC U19 Championships with an 11-0 thrashing of Singapore on Wednesday during an unbeaten run during qualifying in Kuala Lumpur from November 7 to 15.

Their passage to the Asian Football Confederation age-group finals next year included a 2-1 win over India on November 9 and a 2-0 victory over Jordon on November 11. Last Monday Myanmar drew 3-3 with archrivals Thailand, who on Wednesday secured the other place from Group A heading on to the U19 finals with a 5-1 drubbing of India.

Myanmar Football Federation technical director U Soe Myint Lwin said he had always been confident Myanmar would make the AFC under-19 finals next year.

“Before we left for Malaysia we knew we could qualify for the finals because I think our rivals were not much of a match for us, although Thailand could be a little difficult to face,” he said. “But that wasn’t a problem as two teams could qualify from our group.”

Group B matches were held in Chinese Taipei from November 8 to 12 with the hosts advancing while regional powerhouse Vietnam, Hong Kong and Guam were knocked out.

U Soe Myint Lwin said there had been few new additions to this year’s team. “Most of the players are from last year’s under-19 team, although the likes of May Thet Phyu and Aye Aye Khine were selected for the national team for the first time,” he said.

While Myanmar started and finished strongly, last Monday’s draw with Thailand was their sweetest moment as Ei Ei Phyo snatched a third goal with a header to tie the match 3-3 in the dying moments.

For Thailand the draw was a heartbreak as not only did they enjoyed a 2-0 lead going into half-time but were up 3-2 as the match moved into stoppage time.

The Thais had earlier asserted their determination to advance by clobbering cannon-fodder Singapore 17-0 in the tournament’s opening match.