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The tag minnows is no longer applicable to Laos football - men or women. Since making their appearance at the 1995 SEA Games in Thailand, the Laotian national side has been a constant feature of the biennial Asean Football Championships. Following their win over Brunei and the Philippines in 1995, they followed it up with a victory over Malaysia in the Jakarta SEA Games two years later. Enroute to a place in the semi-finals this year, Laos had also drawn against Myanmar (1-1) and Singapore (0-0) while beaten Indonesia 2-0.

And tomorrow, they will be looking to scalp the Malaysians for the second time in 12 years to win a place in the final. LFF president Phouvanh Vongsouthi said that the progress made by the national side or in this case the national Under-23 squad was due to a revamp in the programme.

"We are changing the way we look at our development programmes where we have come to rely more on the close relationships we have with several countries in the region to develop our football," said Phouvanh.

"For the current SEA Games, we sent our U23 team for an attachment to Vietnam with club Hoang Anh Gia Lai where for more than a year, all their expenses in terms of training, lodging and whatever were all taken care of by the Vietnam club.

"I believe for us, it is a better way of developing our football since Laos is a small country and we firmly believe in the ideals of the ASEAN brotherhood."

Domestic competitions are also active with over 60 clubs competing at various levels even though it is mostly restricted to the amateur levels with the top teams from the government ministries or public services. As the Laos men’s football chart further into the unknown, their women’s team will be up against Vietnam in a crucial match later today to see if they can win a place in the final against Thailand on December 16.

The Laotian girls began their campaign in women’s football this year with a 1-1 draw against Myanmar, a 4-1 loss to defending champions Thailand and then a 5-0 win over Malaysia.

Source: SEAG

Malaysia gave a rousing start to their campaign in Group A of the men’s football event when they thrashed Timor Leste 11-0 in the first official competitive match that was played at the Main Stadium of the National Sports Complex. For Timor Leste, they just can’t seem to pull things together as captain Joao Paulo Da Silva tried hard to push forward but without support, he was not going to get far. The afternoon heat did not seem to bother the Malaysians one bit as they started off strongly by scoring their first goal of the game through Norshahrul Idlan Talaha in the third minute off a long pass from captain Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak.

They then doubled their lead in the 12th minute when off a Ahmad Fakri Saarani’s cross from the right, the waiting Badrol Bakhtiar blasted it home. The two goals gave the Malaysians the impetus to slow down the game somewhat but it did not in any way hinder their desire for more goals.

Striker Mohd Aidil Zaquan Abdul Razak grabbed the third goal of the game in the 15th minute, as Safiq Rahim then made the score sheet with the fourth in the 28th minute. Two minutes later, Norshahrul then scored his second of the evening as Ahmad Fakri beat the offside trap in the 41st minute for the Malaysians to take a 6-0 lead at the half.

The break step off the gas in the second half with head coach K. Rajagobal making several substitutions.

They only got going with further goals only in the 58th minute when Aidil Zafuan headed in the corner from Safiq before Ahmad Fakri completed his hat-trick with two quick strikes in the 76th and 77th minute to put the Malaysians 9-0 in front.

Substitute Amirulhadi Zainal (80th minute) and Amar Rohidan (90th minute) then got into the scoring act with two goals in the closing stages for the final scoreline.

SEA Games Laos