Football: Myanmar make Suzuki semis against Thais as Malaysia wilt, Vietnam to play Indonesia
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YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar made the last four of the AFF Suzuki Cup with a 1-0 win over Malaysia that dumped their South-east Asian rivals out of the fiercely contested regional football tournament.
Needing only a draw to make the semis, David Htan's late strike secured all three points to delight the partisan capacity crowd in Yangon's Thuwanna stadium.
The win leaves them second in Group B behind Vietnam, who beat Cambodia 2-1 in Naypyidaw to go through with a perfect record of three wins.
Vietnam will play Group A runners-up Indonesia in the final four.
Myanmar will take on South-east Asian heavyweights Thailand in a two-legged semi-final after the War Elephants cruised through to top Group A.
There will be little love lost in the matches between two proud countries with a historic political and sporting rivalry.
Myanmar used to dominate on the football pitch but slumped under the lack of investment during their 50-year junta rule.
Thailand are now the region's leading side, although still behind the Phippines in the Fifa world rankings, recently securing a 2-2 home draw with the Asian confederation's best team Australia.
Going into Saturday's game, Myanmar and Malaysia were level on points.
But the home side had a superior goal difference, leaving the visitors with it all to do.
The pressure showed as Malaysia struggled to find form.
The game was shadowed by security fears after a series of small home-made bombs hit Yangon this week.
