Nine-men Thailand out of SEA Games

Having claimed four points from the first two games, the Thais needed to take maximum points against an Indonesia side boasting a perfect record at the packed Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta to keep alive their hopes of qualification for the knockout stage.
The Thai side took the gamble by fielding Theerathon Bunmathan even though the Buriram PEA left back only arrived in Indonesia earlier on the day following his commitments with the senior side for the World Cup qualifiers in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The move, though, backfired only ten minutes into the match when Theerathon was sent off for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for kicking the ball away while the second came after he upended an Indonesian player.    
That completed a miserable few days for Theerathon as it was a second red card he received in barely 48 hours following his dismissal in the 3-0 away loss to Saudi Arabia.
The home side, roared on by vocal partisan crowd, made their numerical advantage count just after half an hour when Titus Bonai was left unmarked in the area and headed home a right-side cross.
The Thais, whose run of eight consecutive titles ended in Laos two years ago, were given a lifeline after the restart when Sarach Yooyen was fouled in the area and forward Ronnachai Ranysiyo concerted the penalty to draw his side level in the 50th minute.
The Thai side’s work, though, was undone in the 70th minute by a goalkeeping howler when Ugkrit Wongmeena made an ill-judged decision to come out off the line to intercept the ball from a corner but failed to reach it and Patrich Wanggai headed the hosts back in front.
Things went from bad to worse for the Thais with a quarter of an hour left after Ekkasit Chaobut was given his marching orders for a nasty challenge on an Indonesian player. Ferdinan Sinaga compounded the Thais’ misery by scoring the third in stoppage time.
Kasem Jariyawatwong, the team manager, blamed the red cards on his side’s failure to make it through the semifinals.
“Undoubtedly, the red card ruined our chances for the game. If we had had eleven on the field, we could have won the match. However, I don’t want to criticize the refereeing performance as people might see me trying to make an excuse.
“I’m ready to take responsibility for our failure. I never think about clinging on the post. It maybe the time to make way for a new guy to do the job,” said Kasem.