Kiatisak praises his team's professionalism for a 1-0 win over Philippines

The fixture at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Manila was nothing more than a dead rubber for the Kingdom as they were already assured of top spot and a semifinal berth in the biennial tournament following successive wins over Indonesia (4-2) and Singapore (1-0).

On the contrary, the 2014 semifinalists Philippines needed all the three points from the final Group A match to guarantee qualification for the last four for second consecutive time. They, though, came unstruck as Sarawut Masuk calmly stroked home the late winner to hand a second-string Thai side a narrow win.       

It was the second decisive goal Sarawut scored in three days after the Bangkok Glass FC winger had come off the bench to head home a winner a minute from time against Singapore. The result dented Philippines’ qualification hopes after Indonesia, who had begun the day a point behind them, beat the Singaporeans 2-1 to follow the Kingdom into the next round.

Former national striker Kiatisak said the win over the Philippines that was achieved despite making wholesale changes to his starting lineup was a reflection of the professionalism of his team.     

“The players deserved all the credit for achieving our target by clinching the three points to help us earn maximum nine points from three games for His Majesty the late King.

“It also showed our professionalism. We didn’t know what happened in the other game but I would like to congratulate Indonesia for beating Singapore to go through with us.

“Against Philippines, we showed how much the potential we have with all the 23 players in the team. They needed to win and did make our life difficult. Maybe they just succumbed to the pressure,” said the 43-year-old, who steered the country to its fourth title two years ago that put them level with Singapore as the tournament’s joint most successful team.