Thai women put eight past Singapore to book last-four spot
Thailand guaranteed themselves a semi-final spot in the AFF Women’s Championship after securing their second successive Group A win with an 8-0 hammering of Singapore at the Mandalar Thiri Stadium in Mandaly, Myanmar on Thursday.
Singapore came into the match on the back of a devastating 14-0 loss to Vietnam and approached the game against Thailand, who beat the Philippines 4-0 in their Tuesday’s opener, with a sizable degree of caution. The side made their intentions very clear from the opening minute, sitting back in numbers and putting all their efforts into keeping the Thai players out of their box.
Thailand found themselves frustrated on numerous occasions, seeing shots fly over the top of the crossbar or wide of the posts. The breakthrough came in the 26th minute as a brilliant long-range free kick effort from Anootsara Maijaren that caught the goalkeeper out with a late dip to take the ball just under the crossbar. Since then, they never looked back as they eased past their limited opponents to make it two wins out of two group matches.
Thailand’s final opponents of the group stage are old rivals Vietnam, who appear a daunting prospect. It’s hard to pick a winner in a match that is crucial if Thailand want to qualify as the group’s winners.
