Myanmar national women team will play against Iran on Monday as the second match of the Gold Cup 2019 at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar, India.
       In the opening match, the Asian Lioness defeated Nepal by three goals to nil on Saturday while host India beat Iran 1-0 on the same day.
       The Gold Cup 2019 is four-nation invitation competition hosted by India with the objective to warm up activity for the 2020 AFC women’s Olympic Qualifiers.
       That round-robin tournament included host India, Myanmar, Iran and Nepal. The first matches saw, Myanmar and India got 3 points each while Iran and Nepal are still pointless.
       In the first game, the Asian Lioness created comfortable start with impressive performances and could dominate the whole match. Myanmar forward Khin Moe Wai was on fire as she scored goals in 44th and 77th minutes to break Nepali hearts. Another Myanmar striker Win Theingi Tun netted a goal in 54th minute.
       “Myanmar team performance was average because this game was debut. But our players were steady and played better with good connection after we got leading goal. This tournament allows 6 substitution players. That’s why we changed 6 players during the game,” said Myanmar head coach U Win Thu Moe after Myanmar defeated Nepal.
       “I thought our team stills has some requirements even though we won in first game. I’ll try to fix them in the next matches,” U Win Thu Moe added.
       Myanmar is highest ranked team of the competition with 44 ranks and followed by Iran in 60. Iran will be a tougher rival than Nepal.
       Iran shows their aggressive playing in their opening match against host India. Iran could give trouble to India, even though they lost with 1-0.
       Myanmar head coach U Win Thu Moe had already expected and targeted to grab the India Gold Cup and has said Myanmar must win Iran.
       After Iran, Myanmar continues play with host India on February 13.