Thailand get off to a victory
Three-time champions Thailand got their campaign off to a winning start even though they needed to draw on their experience to overcome a gritty Philippines side 2-1 in their opening Group A match of the Asean Football Championship yesterday.
In front of a sparse crowd at the Rajamangala National stadium, two first-half strikes from Jakkraphan Pornsai and Anucha Kitpongsri put the hosts, whose last triumph came in 2002, in control.
However, the visitors, once the region’s whipping boys but are now lying above the Thais in the world’s ranking, clawed one back from Paul Mulders’ well-struck effort to set up a nervy finale but the home team were able to hang onto the result.
In yesterday’s other match in the group, Vietnam had to settle with only a 1-1 draw with Burma, who had to go through the qualifiers to reach the finals. It meant the Thai side are only one victory away from securing the place in the knockout round of the biennial tournament, having gone out at the group stage in the previous edition.
They next face the Burmese on Tuesday.
