Steven Danis
Football Tribe Women’s Football Correspondent
Six nations across two groups began their journey to be SEA Games champions in the Philippines on Tuesday. Unluckily the hosts the Philippines only managed a goalless draw against Myanmar while the two southeast Asian giants, Thailand and Vietnam, also shared points on matchday one.
The first game was played at the Biñan Football Stadium from Group B when 2017 gold medalists Vietnam met runners-up, Thailand, in the afternoon. The Golden Girls stunned Chaba Kaew first near the end of the first half with a goal from Duong Thi Van through the net of senior goalkeeper, Waraporn Boonsing.
The away team, who played at this summer’s World Cup, finally found an equalizer from Taneekarn Dangda’s goal two minutes from full time. Mai Duc Chung’s side will meet Indonesia on the second match on the 29th of November, and they may need to score many goals to locked one spot on the semi-final as the champions of Group B.
After this match, the hosts played out a goalless draw against recent bronze medallist Myanmar. Marnelli Dimzon’s defensive tactic succeeded in making good forward steps against The Asian Lioness after they were crushed by the Matildas 6-0 in Myanmar.
There is a bit of danger for Myanmar, as they will meet Malaysia in the second match on the 29th of November, while there’s plenty of time for the Matildas to recover before they play their game against Harimau Malaya on the 2nd December.