MANDALAY—Heralded by their coach as his best assembled side for an international tournament, the Philippine Malditas dropped their first test in the women’s football competition of the 27th Southeast Asian Games here.
The Malditas yielded to an inspired Myanmar side, 0-2, Tuesday night at a cauldron-like Mandalirthiri Stadium, leaving their semifinal hopes hanging in the balance.
The result left the Malditas with a must-win match against 2009 SEA Games champion Vietnam on Friday. Only two of the three teams in the group will advance to the Final Four.
Coach Ernie Nierras’ side was on the backfoot for most of the match and needed a brave performance from goalkeeper Maria Dela Cruz to stay in the thick of the fight.
The Burmese side, feeding off the energy from their rabid flag-waving supporters, piled up the pressure early and took 29 minutes to unlock the Malditas defense.
Dela Cruz failed to cope with a cross from the right and the ball fell kindly to striker Khin Malartun, who made no mistake in firing into an empty net.
Quicker to the ball, Than Thnahetwe struck from outside the box past a phalanx of Filipino defenders after Dela Cruz had punched the ball to her path in the 58th minute. Cedelf P. Tupas