Radojko Avramovic will meet former side Singapore in the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup after a 2-1 win over Laos on Monday sealed top spot for Myanmar in the final game of the qualifiers and the Serbian tactician's team will join Group B which comprises of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Nanda Lin Kyaw Chit opened the scoring for the White Angels three minutes before half-time when he raced onto Min Min Thu's lofted throughball and clinically placed his shot past Seng Athit Somvang.
Laos were presented with a perfect opportunity to pull level when Soukaphone Vongchiengkham was brought down inside the area by Aung Zaw on the hour mark, but the forward -- who had already netted four times in the qualifiers -- wasted the penalty by firing over the bar.
And Myanmar went on to make them pay for that glaring miss in the 80th minute when they were awarded a spot-kick of their own with Kyaw Ko Ko sending Seng Athit the wrong way to double his side's advantage.
That strike was enough to effectively end the contest and seal a first-place finish for Avramovic's charges, although the Laotians did grab a consolation goal in injury-time after winning another penalty, which was converted by captain Ketsada Souksavanh on this occasion.
Monday's result means Myanmar are through to Group B and, apart from the Lions, will also face tough tests against Thailand and Malaysia.
Although he admits it will be nice to meet some old friends in the Lion City, Avramovic insists there will be no room for sentimentality when he takes on his former team.
"Of course, it's nice to be going back to Singapore," he said. "I still have many friends there and it will be good to see some familiar faces, but once we're on the field, it'll be business as usual."
Meanwhile, Thim Xad have been placed in Group A and will travel to Hanoi to take on Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines.
While Laos are expected to struggle to make it out of the group stages, coach David Booth was in bullish mood as he warned his side could cause a few upsets.
Booth said: "I think we have nothing to fear, we just finished an Asian Games campaign where we performed admirably against teams like South Korea and Saudi Arabia and I don't think there are any sides as good as those teams in the Suzuki Cup. We've had a good Asian Games, we have now done well in the Suzuki Cup qualifiers, and I think we can be confident in our prospects heading into the tournament next month."
Monday's other qualifier saw Cambodia beat Brunei 1-0 courtesy of Chhin Chhoeun's 55th-minute winner.