Soccer squad face hosts for place in semis

The Thai side, the most successful in Games history, powered towards qualification at the biennial event by making it two wins out of two on Thursday with a 4-1 victory over Indonesia. That followed a 3-1 success against Timor Leste last weekend.

The emphatic win over the Indonesians was sweet revenge for the Thais, who suffered a 3-1 defeat the last time the two sides met in the Games two years ago. More importantly, it put them in driving seat to secure one of two qualifying spots on offer in the group.

A hat-trick of wins today against hosts Myanmar would guarantee the Thais a berth in the last four with one group match to spare. That would give coach Kiatisak “Zico” Senamuang the chance to rest players for the final group match against winless Cambodia on Monday, after a busy schedule of three matches in five days.

The 40-year-old Kiatisak says his side might only need a draw today against the hosts – who are level on points with Thailand at the top of the group – to reach the knockout stages.

“I think a draw tomorrow will be sufficient for us. The main target is to qualify for the next round – the position we finish in is less important. We’ll have to face one of the strong teams in the semi-finals anyway.

“We just have to focus on ourselves. It should be the other teams who are worrying about us.  It should be either Vietnam, Singapore or defending champions Malaysia,” said Kiatisak, who helped the country win four SEA Games titles during his glittering playing career.

The former national striker hinted he would rotate his team for the Myanmar match at Thuwanna Stadium. “To be honest, I would like to rest all our first-choice players if possible. There is not much difference between players’ potentials in the squad.