Gritty Myanmar Girls Lose ASEAN Football Trophy but Triumph Over Personal Hardship  

By Vijian Paramasivam

PHNOM PENH, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- The Myanmar women's football team pulled off the biggest coup in the ASEAN Women’s MSIG Serenity Cup 2025 after a decade-long wait.

After a gallant performance throughout the regional tournament, the team dubbed  'Asian Lionesses' faltered in the final, losing narrowly 1-0 to Australia’s Under-23 team at the Lạch Tray Stadium in Vietnam yesterday.

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The defeat was indeed painful, yet their unbeaten run in the tournament was remarkable. The ending revealed a telling tale, reflecting the resilience of a nation faced with multiple challenges, from personal hardships to democratic backsliding.

Myanmar’s Institute for Strategy and Policy’s Director of Communication, Aung Thu Nyein, described the football team as a beacon of success and hope, in a highly polarised nation afflicted by a cauldron of social and political woes.

"I believe the people of Myanmar will be very proud of them, since the nation has little to show in terms of successes, at a time when the country is in a mess, and is poor and failing in many things,” he told Bernama.

During the 90-minute final, the Myanmar players, looking flamboyant in their red jerseys, unleashed their fierce determination.

In a powerful display, the eleven young women represented a narrative beyond the football field – of Myanmar’s turbulent past, the stories of its kings, and battles fought by their ancestors. Life under colonialism and a socialist climate to military rule demonstrate the people's perseverance in the face of adversity.

In a country where football matches can fuel a fanatical atmosphere, the team’s achievement will be a talk of the town, among betel nut-chewing fans wearing traditional longis in Burmese tea shops to sharply dressed people in corporate boardrooms.

The nation is certainly deeply divided along ethnic lines and political ideologies, but the beautiful game remains a unifying factor.

“All of Myanmar will be very happy with their success. A few years ago, following the coup, some political groups strongly criticised artistes, musicians, film stars, and sportspeople for not adhering to civil obedience and cooperating with the military.

“But it doesn't matter, they are doing their best for the nation and hope everybody is happy now,” said Aung Thu Nyein.

Myanmar, which has become isolated since the February 2021 military coup, has more to offer to the world than just melancholic stories about natural disasters, scam centres, and political crises.

It is a nation rich in history and blessed with natural beauty and ancient cities.

It is also not short of talents in sports.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the country which was then named Burma produced top-notch long-distance runners, footballers, bodybuilders, and weightlifters, all of whom finished on the podium at international competitions.

The men’s national football team won gold at the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games.

Former Malaysian footballer Datuk Santokh Singh, who had played against the national team several times, described the 1970s as the glorious years of Myanmar football, in particular during the historic Merdeka Tournaments in Kuala Lumpur. 

“I remember the men’s football team used to be a fantastic, formidable side during the 1970s, but they faded off from the limelight in the later years for some reason.

“With the women’s team in the final now, I think both the men and women’s teams are now trying to make a comeback, and that is good for soccer,” Santokh told Bernama from Kuala Lumpur.

As fate would have it, sports took a back seat as the country descended into political turmoil, particularly over the last four years.

Young talents slid into obscurity. Financial constraints, poor infrastructure, and insecurity hindered their success.

Despite yesterday’s defeat, the Asian Lionesses bowed out of the stadium as heroes. After all, they lost to a team from a first-world country. 

-- BERNAMA