Thailand raring to go at Oman after giving Aussies a run

After scrapping into the last-20 team stage with an uninspiring 3-2 aggregate win over lowly Palestine, the Thai side coached by German trainer Winfried Schaefer made an encouraging start to their campaign by nearly taking a point off the Australians, who sit 98 places above them in the 22nd spot.

With the odds firmly stacked against them, the Thais threatened to cause a big upset at Suncorp stadium in Brisbane after they took a half-time lead through Teerasil Dangda's strike, which came after a well-crafted move on the counter attack.

Thailand' challenge, though, wilted in the second half when several of their players looked visibly tired and substitute striker Alex Brosque rounded off the Australia fightback barely five minutes before the final whistle  with an opportunistic strike to seal a 2-1 win. Brosque's effort proved even more valuable since it put Australia atop the standings after Oman and Saudi Arabia shared the spoils in the other group match on Friday.

Despite returning from the Australia trip with nothing, the Thai side were lauded for their spirited display against the team boasting several high-profile players such as Everton midfielder Tim Cahill. The team's showing left the country buzzing over their qualification prospects.

Much of the credit for the Thais' commendable showing must go to the 61-year-old Schaefer, who has made the miserable days during his predecessor Bryan Robson's reign a distant memory despite having been in the job for a little over two months.

The former Cameroon manager, though, is aware that his men now need to pick themselves up for the home fixture against an improving Oman side at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

Assuming Australia would finish at the summit, it leaves the other three teams in the group battling it out for the remaining qualification spot for the final qualifying round. The German, who guided Cameroon to the African Nations Cup title in 2002, realises that the Thais' campaign virtually starts from the Oman game.

The Rajamangala fixture represents a different kind of test, both tactically and mentally, since anything less than a win in what is deemed as the most winnable tie against the second lowest ranked team in the group would deal a huge blow to Thailand's chances of qualifying.

Schaefer, though, stressed his men needed to be at their best against an Oman side, coached by former Lyon manager Paul Le Guen, that he believes would provide a test as difficult as the Australians did.

"They [Oman] are a very good team. They played very well against Saudi Arabia. We must be at our 100 per cent against this team. Believe me, they're really a stronger team than people think.

 "Tomorrow's game would be at the same level in terms of difficulty as the Australian match. But, the game would be different as they play in Arabic style while Australia play more like the English. They're good on counter attack.

"In the Brisbane fixture, Australia pressurised us in the last 20 minutes and they eventually scored the winning goal. We must be clever this time. We can't go all out on attack and not focus on defending," said Schaefer.

While complaining about the gruelling schedule after his team had to play two matches in four days, the German insisted his charges were ready for the game, which is shown live on NBT Channel from 6pm.

"I hope our players have enough power. We barely had time to rest after we made a long haul back home from Australia, while Oman also had to travel from Middle East. It would not be good in terms of quality of play.

"However, everyone in my team is ready. In fact, I need to talk to my players to stop training since they want to train more and more. I say to them that you need to balance between training and rest. Nobody came to see me, saying I'm tired. They really want to play."