PHL Malditas drop 1st match in AFF Women's Championship

The Philippine women's football team, Malditas, suffered a 2-0 loss to Myanmar in their Group B opening match in the 2011 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women's Championship Monday night at the National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos. My Nilar Htwe scored both of Myanmar's goals. She scored early in the game, fourth minute, following a defensive miscue by the Philippines side. The Philippines made a tough stand on defense after that but My Nilar still managed to add another goal late in the second half. The Malditas' best and only chance to score a goal came in the 30th minute when Natasha Alquiros' shot flew over the crossbar. The Malditas surprisingly made it tough for Myanmar, fielding a team that is being primed for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, in collating its first win of the tournament in Group B. “We were expecting to score lots of goals but the Philippines have improved a lot and that made it tough for us," said Myanmar coach Yoshinori Kumada to aseanfootball.org. In the other Group B match, Nisa Romyen completed a hat trick as 2009 runner-up Thailand cruised to an 8-1 win over Malaysia. Host Laos blanked Indonesia, 11-0, and Vietnam trounced Singapore, 9-1, in Group A matches Sunday. — Reuben Terrado/JVP, GMA News