Coach believes teamwork will win Thais the Asean title

Three-time champions Thailand, made it through to the final after a 2-0 win in the semi-final second leg on Thursday that secured a 3-1 aggregate win over title holders Malaysia.

Against the Malaysians at the packed Supachalasai National Stadium, the Thai side lacked creativity in the first half that featured only a few chances, with in-form striker Teerasil Dangda squandering the best opportunity on the half-hour mark when he latched on to Datsakorn Thonglao’s splendid defence-splitting pass but sent a low shot inches wide off the far post.

The turning point of the game, though, came on the stroke of half-time when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after central defender Fadhli received his second yellow card for an off-the-ball incident with Datsakorn, who was also booked by the Korean referee.

The hosts made the most of their numerical advantage in the second half. Teerasil atoned for his earlier miss by taking advantage of a mistake in the Malaysian defence. Theerathon Bunmathan made the game safe moments afterwards, firing home a rebound after Malaysian goalkeeper failed to collect a Jakkapan Pornsai freekick effort. The 62-year-old Schaefer, who had to watch the game from the stands as he was serving a touchline ban, paid tribute to his men for reaching the third final in the last four editions of the event. “We showed our class. The lads are all happy. Even in the last quarter of the hour, we still kept looking for a goal. I have full faith in this side, the same one we used for the first leg. We didn’t have just 11 players. We got 22 in our team, we have very good teamwork.”  

Despite facing Singapore, who have also won the title three times, in the final, the veteran coach, who took over the Thai post last year, believed the time had come for the Thais to reclaim the trophy.

“They [Singapore] are a very good team. I watched them play against the Philippines in the last four. We need to get a positive result from our trip to Singapore before we host them. I think it’s time for us to win the trophy after waiting for 10 years.” Thailand visit Singapore in the first leg of the final on December 19 and host the return leg at Supachalasai Stadium three days later.