Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Yangon: Myanmar overcame a first-leg deficit to defeat a resilient Mongolia 2-1 on aggregate and advance to the second round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The Mongolians went into Sunday's crucial second-leg at the Thuwanna Youth Training Centre with a slender one-goal advantage courtesy of Tsend-Ayush Khurelbaatar's 48th minute strike in Ulaanbaatar and they defended their lead up until just after the hour mark.
Soe Pai levelled the encounter on aggregate and it was looking as though the Yadanarbon forward's 61st minute effort would force extra-time, Mai Aih Naing netted the second as Myanmar avoided a shock early exit at the hands of the lower-ranked Mongolians.
Myanmar's reward for seeing-off the brave Mongol challenge is a second round meeting against Oman, with the first-leg taking place in the Gulf sultanate on July 23 before the action shifts to South East Asia five days later.