JAKARTA – Myanmar taught the Philippines a neat lesson in football last night, scoring a 5-0 victory, to book a seat in the semi final of the 26th Southeast Asian Games.

Myanmar, silver medallist of the 2007 Games in Thailand, scored immediately in the 11th minute, igniting a fine football show at the Lebak Bulus Stadium.

Myanmar tied powerhouse and fellow semifinalist Vietnam at the top of the leaderboard with its third win against a draw in Group B.

The Azkals entered the game yesterday somewhat buoyed by last Friday’s 3-2 win over Laos, but did not bring the quality of defense that could have avoided the annihilation.

The loss was the third for the Philippines in four outings.

Defending champion Malaysia boosted its semifinal bid with a 4-1 victory over Cambodia in a Group A match at the Gelora Bung Karno.

The Malaysians clinched their second win against a draw to keep solo second place behind 2-0 Indonesia. The Cambodians tumbled to their fourth straight setback.

The Under-23 Azkals debuted with a 1-2 loss to Vietnam. In their next outing, they got waylaid by Timor-Leste 1-2 in a loss that sent them out of the semifinal race.

Against Laos, they won, 3-2.