National team lost 10-0 in Japan after mainstays including an experienced goalkeeper refused the head coach’s call

Second-division games in Malaysia don’t make many international headlines but that changed in March when the Myanmar under-23 winger Hein Htet Aung gave a three-fingered salute after scoring for Selangor II. Popularised by The Hunger Games film franchise, this gesture of resistance was adopted by pro-democracy protesters in Thailand and Hong Kong in 2014 and then by Myanmar, after the military took back power in a coup on 1 February.

Before Myanmar’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Japan last Friday, the goalkeeper Kyaw Zin Htet had called for players to copy Hein’s handiwork. “It would be good if some of them came out and gave the three-fingered salute to an international audience,” the 31-year-old told AFP.

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Source: The Guardian