Trophy still within reach, says Schaefer

The Thais fell behind as early as nine minutes into the match after Bosnian-born player Aleksandar Duric was hauled down in the penalty area by Piyaphon Buntao and the Japanese referee pointed to the spot, with Mustafic Fahruddin making no mistake with his retaken penalty kick.

Thailand improved after the break and managed to draw level with Adul Lasoh’s effort just before the hour mark, but their joy was short-lived as the hosts hit back three minutes later with striker Khairul Amri’s neat finish at the near post. 

During the frenetic closing stages, the Thais had chances for a second equaliser but instead found themselves further behind when defender Baihakki Khaizan scored the hosts’ third goal in stoppage time, which put them in the driving seat ahead of the return leg tomorrow.

Although history is against them – no team has ever overcome a first-leg deficit in the final of the biennial tournament – the 62-year-old Schaefer was adamant that his side would be able to overturn the two-goal deficit at Supachalasai National stadium.

“For me this result is not a problem because we still have a second match. We will play in Bangkok and I hope that the stadium will be full and we can change the course of this match. What is important is that we score … I am sure that we can turn things around.

“It will be a game played on another pitch and we know now that the long balls from Singapore will cause us problems. We have to put pressure on their defenders and try to change the match,” said the veteran German, the third successive foreign coach for the national team after two Englishmen, Peter Reid and Bryan Robson.

Schaefer is well aware of the defensive weaknesses his side needed to correct ahead of the second leg after they allowed Singapore to score three times, equalling the total number of goals they conceded in five games on their way to the finals. 

“I saw the mistakes that were made for the first goal, the second goal and then the third goal. Now we have to watch the DVD and discuss all the problems that we had, go out and train, and maybe make things better for the second leg.

“It is important now that the players are focused. We still have a second match in Bangkok and maybe we can change the match. The players can get back and I have confidence that we can change things in the second leg.

“For the first goal, we gave them a chance to cross the ball. That’s a problem because we should have tried to press their player on the right. It is clear that [Aleksandar] Duric is an experienced player and he knows what he has to do in that part of the penalty area. He got in front of Dai [Piyaphon Buntao] and it was a penalty.

“For the second goal, the long ball came in and Ball [Jakkapan Pornsai] went to the wrong player, Duric, and the next thing we knew the score was 2-1.

“The third goal was a bit unlucky for us. The ball came from the corner and it hit Chon [Chonlatit Jantakam] on the leg and it came back out in front of goal for them to score.

“You need luck because if you don’t have luck, you cannot win the match. Singapore had luck today but I hope that we have some luck in Bangkok,” said the German, who is aiming to succeed where his two English predecessors failed by leading the country to regional glory.