A solitary strike from Janista Jinantuya early in the second half gave Thailand their second crown of the AFF Under-16 Girls’ Championship when they beat Myanmar 1-0 in the final that was played at the Bumi Sriwijaya Stadium.
In an evenly contested affair, the prolific Janista who has been consistent throughout the group stage fired what was the winner in the 46th minute for the well-deserved victory.
“Winning the final was good but the game concept was missing,” said Thai head coach Naruephon Kaenson.
“We were weak with the ball possession and this is something which we really need to work on.”
In the highly anticipated final between two teams known for their fast attacking players, it was Thailand who grabbed the attacking options to rarely allow their opponents to move forward.
Thanatphat Bungthong met the cross form Thawanrat Promthongmee early in the six minutes but the former totally muffed her chance while some time later a fabulous move between Chattaya Pratumkul and Suchavadee Chompaeng failed to deliver the lead.
Myanmar replied with Swe Mar Aung pulling the strings from midfield but while she managed to float in the cross, Sone Hnin Phwe just coud not connect.
With both teams locked at the end of the first half, the second would prove pivotal as Thailand made a strong start to prise open the lead in the 46th minute.
Off a Suchada Khamjaroen freekick from the right, Janista ran into the Myanmar box to score.
Rattled, Myanmar seemed to have lost their bearings as Thailand grew in confidence realising that the trophy is within their reach.
Thailand stuck to their guns and made clearance after clearance as Myanmar continued to be frustrated all the way to the finish.
“We prepared well for the final but it was obvious that we were a rung below Thailand. They are a well prepared squad as against our team who had only some five weeks,” added Myanmar head coach San San Thein afterwards.
In the meantime, Vietnam beat Laos 3-0 on penalties in the classification match that was played earlier.
The score at the end of the regulatory 80 minutes was 0-0.
“I am not happy with the way we played. We should have done better and score. We created some chances, some really good chances and we should have won in regulation. Not depending on the luck of the penalties,” said Vietnam head coach Nguyen Thi Mai Lan.
Into the penalties, it would seem that Phatthalavady was lacking the motivation when she failed to stop the Vietnam attempts off Thi Hoa,Tran Thi Hanh and Tran Thi Huong Tra.
Laos’ first three kickers – Vilayphone Phengsana, Thippakone Syvonglath and Inthida Khounsy – all missed.
AFF UNDER-16 GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
RESULTS
FINAL: Myanmar 0 Thailand 1
THIRD & FOURTH PLACING: Laos 0 (0) Vietnam 0 (3)
