Joeys defeat hosts Myanmar

The Joeys have defeated Myanmar 2-0 in their second match of the AFF U-16 Aya Bank Championship 2013 which is being held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

The Joeys have defeated Myanmar 2-0 in their second match of the AFF U-16 Aya Bank Championship 2013 which is being held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

The Joeys first goal came just before the half-hour mark after Brandon Osipov passed to Caio De Godoy on left hand side of the pitch. De Godoy then switched the play to Daniel Maskin in behind the Myanmar defence. Maskin-s first touch took him towards goal and he was met by the advancing Myanmar Goal Keeper, Phone Thitsar Min. Maskin then executed a neat little chip to the near post to beat the keeper and open the scoring.

The second goal of the match came just after the hour mark following some great build up play down the Joeys right hand side, that lead to Maskin getting in behind the Myanmar defence again. On this occasion Maskin crossed from the goal line that was palmed away by Phone Thitsar Min to the top of the box. Gian Mendez collected the parried ball and then made no mistake finishing through a crowded box.

Joeys Head Coach Tony Vidmar was pleased with the result but not so happy with his team's performance overall.

"We watched Myanmar in their first game and knew this was going to be a physical battle against them," said Vidmar

"First half we controlled possession again, creating very good goal scoring chances but we didn't take them. At international level this will hurt the team because in other games you might only get one or two chances.

"In the second half our decision making and execution become less which resulted in Myanmar getting two chances. The crowd got behind their team and we were under unnecessary pressure.

"This game gave them an understanding of what to expect when you play the home team and the added pressures we put on ourself if we decided to stray away from the team plan," concluded Vidmar.

The Joeys will play their next match of the AFF U-16 Championship against Brunei on 24 August and their final group match will be against Vietnam on 26 August. The top teams from each group will then face each other in the semi-finals on 31 August with the winners to meet in the final which will be played on 2 September.

Match Details:

Joeys 2 (Maskin 29-, Mendez 62-) Myanmar 0

Joeys line-up: Fotakopoulos, Speth (Rowles 78-), Petratos, Panetta ©, Mendez, Osipov, Pham (Verbi 61-), De Godoy, Caletti, Maskin, Reiner (Bandiera 56-)