Record crown for defeated Lions

Thailand’s hopes of reclaiming the Asean Championship title will have to wait after they suffered a painful 3-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of old foes Singapore yesterday.

The Thai side was able to score a 1-0 win at home in the second leg of the final yesterday, but it was not enough to help them win a trophy that has been eluding them since 2002. 

Facing an uphill task after going down 3-1 in the first leg in the city state midweek, the Thais needed to show considerable improvement in their performance if they were to prevent the visitors, who were tied with them on three title wins, from clinching a record fourth title.

The odds, though, were firmly stacked against Thailand as no side has ever overcome any sort of deficit in the finals of the biennial tournament. The Thais themselves were unable to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit, eventually going down to a narrow 3-2 aggregate loss the last time the two sides met in the final five years ago.

However, the Thais will take heart from their home form as they made it three wins out of three in the group stage of the event before going on to beat the Malaysians 2-0 at home to secure a 3-1 aggregate win over the defending champions in the last four.

Tickets for the deciding fixture at the Supachalasai National Stadium were sold out within hours after going on sale on Wednesday. Some of the fans had their faces painted in the national colours. They quickly filled the venue long before the kick-off of the match that would decide which side would become the event’s most successful team.

Given the desperate need to score to overturn the two-goal deficit, German coach Winfried Schaefer reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, with in-form striker Teerasil Dangda, leading the scoring charts on five goals, working in tandem with powerful forward Kirati Kiewsombat up front. 

The atmosphere inside the venue was electrifying, with the partisan crowd loudly rooting for the hosts while the visitors were deafeningly booed each time they got the ball. Despite being pressurised on and off the pitch, the visiting side coped quite well with the early assault from the hosts.

Schaefer’s men nearly opened the scoring when the Singaporean keeper flapped at a left-side corner but Jakkapan Pornsai sent a header into the crossbar in the 15th minute, much to the disappointment of the noisy home support.

With the visitors clearly happy to sit on their advantage, the Thai side, though, barely looked threatening despite enjoying a majority of the possession, the passing in the final third often letting them down.

Schaefer reacted angrily after watching his side spurn a chance from a promising cross from the left, with no Thai player near to connect the ball inside the box when half-time approached.  

However, the stadium exploded in wild celebration at the stroke of half-time when the hosts eventually broke the deadlock with Kirati’s thumping header. Known for his aerial prowess, the Buriram United striker, who spent last season on loan at Wuachon United, did exactly what Schaefer expected from the No 9 player when he leapt the highest to nod a Theerathon Bunmathan corner into the back of the net. 

Kirati’s effort undoubtedly revived the home side’s hopes of overturning the deficit and they emerged in the second half with a renewed vigour, taking the game to the visitors right from the restart.

It became an end-to-end battle as Singapore now hoped to score an away goal that potentially would snuff out the Thais’ hopes of a turnaround. Kirati squandered a decent chance midway through the half when he latched onto Pichiphong Choeichiu’s lobbed pass into the area but wastefully blasted his effort over the bar.

The home fans’ desperation grew each minute as the hosts were unable to score a second goal that would have helped them win the title on away-goal rules. Despite being able to carve out some decent chances in the closing stages, it was not to be the night of the Thais as Singapore clung on for a record fourth title.