Myanmar U19 team secures the first ticket to the U20 World Cup finals.

On the afternoon of October 17th, the Myanmar U19 team became the first Asian team to qualify for the U20 World Cup finals held in New Zealand in 2015.

The joy of the Myanmar U19 players after winning against their UAE opponents.

In the quarter-final match of the AFC U19 Championship held this afternoon at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon (Myanmar), the host team, Myanmar U19, faced off against the UAE. However, the match only truly became exciting from the second half onwards, when young player Than Paing unexpectedly scored the opening goal, a 1-0 lead for the home team, following a cross from a teammate.

Than Paing's goal sent thousands of Myanmar fans into a frenzy of joy, and they continuously cheered on the players as they fended off relentless attacks from their UAE U19 opponents and maintained the score until the end of the match.

As a result, with a narrow 1-0 victory, U19 Myanmar became the first Asian team to secure one of the four tickets to the U20 World Cup finals next year in New Zealand, and the first Southeast Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the 2014 U19 Asian Championship.

In the match played at 4:00 PM, the Japanese U19 team bitterly watched as the second ticket to the semi-finals of the 2014 Asian U19 Championship (also Asia's second ticket to the 2015 U20 World Cup) slipped into the hands of North Korea, losing 4-5 in the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in both regular and extra time.

I say "bitter" because the Japanese U19 team played better, controlled the game more, and constantly created scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side.

According to Bongdaplus