A stunning loss leaves Myanmar’s Man Utd fans feeling dismayed—and more than a little conflicted

Manchester United fans in Myanmar are expressing shock and disappointment after their favourite football team suffered an unexpected defeat on Wednesday to a far less experienced rival in Malaysia. To make matters even more emotionally complicated, the elite club owed its loss to a Myanmar national, 29-year-old striker Maung Maung Lwin, who scored the winning goal for the ASEAN All-Stars during the 90-minute friendly match at the National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. On Thursday, Myanmar’s many Man Utd fans took to the internet to vent their frustration—and their conflicted feelings. “Despite being proud of him for being a Myanmar national, I’m embarrassed for Man Utd,” wrote one person in the comments section of the BBC Burmese-language service’s report on the upset win for the Asian team. Hundreds of others also chimed in, many of them similarly torn between pride and disappointment. “I don’t even know how to react to this; it’s like I don’t know whether to cry or be happy,” wrote one woman. Long before the internet and mobile phones became widely used in Myanmar, many in the country would flock to their local tea shops and beer stations to watch football matches on television. As the popularity of this pastime grew, Man Utd soon established itself as a favourite of hardcore football fans. Ko Moe Thee, a staunch supporter of the club, said he has been hooked on the game and its most famous English League team since around 2003. He even had its logo tattooed in his chin—something he now says he is thinking about removing. It has been harder in recent years to keep the faith, he said, as the team’s performance has declined steadily since 2013. “We are losing hope. I have grown really frustrated with Man Utd, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to hope that they will improve next year, or the year after that,” he told Myanmar Now when asked about Wednesday’s loss. Regarding Maung Maung Lwin’s sudden rise to football fame, he complained that the star striker had been “disrespectful” to his national audience. He also expressed doubts about his political orientation—a sentiment shared by others online. After the military seized power in February 2021, many civil servants across Myanmar resigned in protest; some professional footballers also followed suit. Maung Maung Lwin has publicly criticised their stance. Trishaw drivers are among Man Utd’s most ardent Myanmar fans, earning it the nickname of the “trishaw team.” In a nod to this image, one its most iconic players, Rio Ferdinand, rode a trishaw during a visit to the country in 2019 to promote a beer brand. Reflecting this long-standing association, some online commenters suggested that trishaw drivers should consider a ban on providing their services to Maung Maung Lwin. Serious or not, some of these comments received hundreds of reactions, many of them expressing approval. Meanwhile, as most in Myanmar lamented Man Utd’s loss, the country’s junta-controlled state media hailed the unlikely outcome of Wednesday’s match as nothing short of historic. “Maung Maung Lwin makes history with a goal against Man United,” the Global New Light of Myanmar, a regime mouthpiece, proclaimed in its headline on Thursday.

A stunning loss leaves Myanmar’s Man Utd fans feeling dismayed—and more than a little conflicted

Many put their loyalty to their favourite team above their pride in a compatriot who scored a winning goal against them

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