Buriram United become a force to be reckoned with

The Thai side, who swept all in front of them with an unprecedented treble last term, took the continent by storm by pulling off two surprise victories in a row in their first two group games against J-League winners Kashiwa Reysol (3-2) and Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande (2-1).

Buriram’s impressive exploits in the opening stages confounded many pundits, who gave them no chance of becoming the first Thai club to reach the knock-out phase since BEC Tero Sasana went all the way to the final in 2003, when the cruel luck of the draw put them in a strong group that included four champions from their domestic league.

However, the TPL champions’ challenge to claim one of the two qualification spots seemed to go off the rails when they failed to reproduce the battling display that earned them many plaudits against the Korean side, who opened their sixth campaign in contrasting fashion to the Thais by losing their opening two matches.

In the first fixture of a double header against Jeonbuk a fortnight ago, the Thai side, previously known as Buriram PEA before club owner Newin Chidchob completed a takeover from the Provincial Electricity Authority in the off season and changed the name, went down 2-0 at home. They could hardly complain about the result after being outplayed by the Koreans.

The Thais’ first loss of the campaign, combined with a draw in the group’s other match between Kashiwa and Guangzhou, left the section wide open at the half way mark, with only three points separating Buriram at the top and Jeonbuk in the bottom.

To put their campaign back on track, Buriram needed to take something out of Tuesday’s game at Jeonju World Cup stadium. It looked promising in the early stages after they somehow took the lead in fortuitous fashion when Franck Ohandza’s attempted cross went over the keeper and into the far post.

A quick-fire double soon afterwards from evergreen striker Lee Dong-gook put the home side in front and the Koreans, who missed out on an opportunity to add to the first and only Champions League title they won in 2006 following a shock defeat on penalties to Qatar’s Al Sadd in the final last year, were in cruise control. Though the Koreans looked the more likely side to score the next goal, Buriram managed to silence the home fans again before the hour mark when Cameroonian Ohandza applied a clinical finish to a flowing move to put the Thai team on level terms. Had anyone offered Newin a draw in Korea, the de facto leader of the Bhum Jai Thai Party certainly would have taken it, since they would have stayed in a strong position to make it to the next round. Park Won-jae, however, broke the Thai team’s hearts with a late strike when the visitors failed to clear a corner. 

With Guangzhou beating struggling Kashiwa 3-1 in the other match, Buriram slipped down to third spot a point behind the Chinese, who overhauled them at the summit in the process. 

There are just two games to go and the Thai team can ill afford any more slip-ups when they visit Kashiwa on May 1 before concluding their group campaign against Guangzhou at home two weeks later if they are to secure a passage into the last 16 stage.

Whether Buriram can steer their way out of the section or not, they can be proud of the fact they have given themselves a good account in the first foray into the tournament, Asia’s equivalent of the Uefa Champions League. It is testament to Newin’s work, which has turned the club into a force to be reckoned with, both domestically and internationally, in a short space of time.