'Buriram United will be back'

Buriram United president Newin Chidchob has vowed his side will bounce back stronger next season after the Thai FA Cup winners tumbled out of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate loss to Iranian giants Esteghlal.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in the Iranian capital last month, Buriram’s chances of a comeback got a major boost when Spanish centre-back Osmar Ibanez guided a downward header from a corner inside the far post to drag his side level on aggregate on Wednesday night.

But Iranian champions emerged revitalised after the break and defender Hanif Zadeh put his team back in the driving seat by heading home a crucial away goal only eight minutes into the second half.

The hosts, fielding 10 Thai players for the return leg at a packed I-Mobile stadium, pushed forward in search of goals as time ran out. However, any remaining hopes of a dramatic comeback were dashed when former Bolton midfielder Anderanik Teymourian blasted home an unstoppable shot in injury time.

Having watched his side’s surprising run come to an abrupt end, Newin pledged Buriram, who currently sit top of the Thai Premier League standings, would go even further in the continent’s elite club competition next term.

“I want to apologise to our fans and to Thais for failing to make it through to the last four of the competition. We still have to improve many things, but our players gave it everything and did well overall. Next year, we will go even further than we did this term.

“I’ll make the team stronger. But, considering that our 10 Thai players did such a great job in the Champions League today, I have to thank everyone,” said Newin in a clip posted on the club’s fan page. 

Buriram’s new coach Alejandro Menendez blamed his players’ lack of experience on the international stage for their elimination. 

“Esteghlal were more professional and more experienced in the second half and they knew how to slow the game. In football terms we were better, but they have more experience and knew how to manage the game better,” said former Racing Santander manager Menendez, who became the third coach to manage Buriram in their Champions League campaign this term after his appointment earlier this month.

“We were better during the game overall, but our lack of experience in this competition made us nervous and when we got into the Esteghlal box we were not precise.

“The second goal then came too late and we were already unorganised … they didn’t deserve this win or their passage to the semi-finals from what I have seen during this match. We had 14 chances against five chances from Esteghlal.” 

The Spanish coach believes Buriram, the first Thai club in a decade to reach the knockout phase of the competition, went out with heads held high after outplaying the Iranian visitors, especially in the first 45 minutes.

“We did brilliantly in the first half as we dominated everything defensively and offensively and we were able to score,” added Menendez.

“We were better than Esteghlal as they had no chances to score. But the goal came too early in the second half so we lost a little bit of concentration.

“In the second half we played too much with our heart and were too unorganised. We prepared for the game knowing we needed a lot of patience, but this killed us and we were unable to get to the Esteghlal box, especially inside the last 10 minutes.”