Indonesian defeat ROCKS Kiatisak
National coach Kiatisak Senamuang endured a sleepless night after his team’s chance of claiming a record-breaking fifth title became a bit complicated following a 2-1 defeat to Indonesia in the first leg of the Asean Football Championship final on Wednesday.
Defending champions Thailand made a strong statement of their title credentials by reeling off five wins in a row en route to the title showdown against an Indonesia side that they had beaten 4-2 in the group stage opener last month.
At the packed Pakansari Stadium in west Java, the Thais looked to be on course to set a new mark for the best winning sequence in the biennial tournament when captain Teerasil Dangda put them ahead after half an hour. The inform striker also took his tally for the event to six goals.
Kiatisak’s side, though, failed to heed lessons from the group encounter in which the Indonesians overcame a two-goal deficit with two quick-fire strikes after the break before Teerasil’s two late goals, that completed his hat-trick, bailed them out.
They surrendered the halftime lead again on Wednesday even though they could count themselves unlucky. Rizky Pora’s shot from outside the area took a wicked deflection that left keeper Kawin Thamsatchanan flatfooted.
The Thai side never recovered from the setback. It went from bad to worse when Indonesia struck again soon after to consign Kiatisak’s men to their first defeat in the competition in which they are tied with Singapore as the joint most successful country with four titles.
Former national striker Kiatisak, who guided the Kingdom to the title two years ago to add to the three he won during his playing days, said he barely slept after what was only his second defeat in charge of the team in the regional championship.
“I didn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about the tactics for the second leg at home. The real title match will be on Saturday.
“I told the lads even if we drew 0-0, 1-1 or 2-2 we will need to beat them 1-0 at home. So, we’re fortunate to snatch an ‘away goal’ even though we lost 2-1. If we manage to win 1-0, we’ll become the champions on away goals rule. If not, we have to accept the bitter truth,” Kiatisak told reporters before taking the flight back home yesterday.
Given the short time to turn around the fortunes, the Thai coach said he will try to ensure his players will be ready for the second leg at Rajamangala National Stadium on Saturday.
“There is no easy game in football today. We have seen how good other Asean teams are. We’ll have only a day left before the second leg. With the time constraints, we could not do the drills so we’ll focus on helping players make a quick recovery.
“There’s nothing to be concerned about the tactics as everyone already has a good understanding about our playing system. All the lads were disappointed with the result. Some of them came in for criticism in the social media.
“So, what we need to do now is to help the players recover mentally as well. I told them that it’s normal to win or lose in football. If we win at home, there will not be any problem. If not, we have to accept that we’re not good enough,” said the 43-year-old coach.
