Thailand Survive Scare to Beat Indonesia in AFF Suzuki Cup Opener
Bocaue, Philippines, 20 Safar 1438/20 November 2016 (MINA) – Striker Teerasil Dangda was the hero as Thailand survived a scare to get their 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup defence up and running with a 4-2 win over Indonesia on Saturday.
Playing in their first competitive match in more than a year, Indonesia stunned the Group A favourites by levelling at 2-2 at the Philippine Sports Stadium, early in the second half, espn.com reported.
Four days after holding Asian champions Australia to a draw in Bangkok, the Thais had earlier appeared to be cruising to victory when strikes from Peerapat Notchaiya and Teerasil handed them a two-goal cushion at the interval.
Garuda somehow managed to fight their way back into the contest, with a blistering spell after the break, which saw Boaz Solossa and Lerby Eliandry net twice in four minutes.
However, Thailand then stepped up another gear. Teerasil fired them back in front with a clinical drive 11 minutes from time before completing his hat trick in injury time to put the result beyond doubt.
Entering the game looking to kick off their quest for a successful title defence on a positive note, the War Elephants could not have asked for a better start as they broke the deadlock inside four minutes.
Initially, there appeared to be little danger. But hesitancy by Rudolof Basna allowed Siroch Chatthong to hustle him into giving away possession inside his own area.
Kurnia Meiga was alert to the danger and came out to block Siroch’s feet. But more haphazard defending saw Basna clear the ball straight to Peerapat, who made no mistake in plating his shot into the far corner.
It was almost 2-0 in the eighth minute when a corner by Peerapat was flicked on to Teerasil. He was only a yard out, but somehow smashed his volley into the bar.
Despite entering the game as huge underdogs, Indonesia were giving their opponents some problems with their pace down the flanks.
They almost equalised in the 19th minute when Boaz was afforded too much space on the box and his left-footed effort took a wicked deflection, only for Kawin Thamsatchanan to deny him with a brilliant save.
Nonetheless, the Thais always looked in control of proceedings and duly doubled their lead six minutes after the half-hour mark, courtesy of some fine individual brilliance from Chanathip Songkrasin.
Breaking free inside the area with a quick turn of pace to skip past Fachrudin Aryanto, the Muangthong United playmaker then cut the ball past the onrushing Meiga. Although there were three defenders surrounding him, Teerasil somehow managed to lunge in and force the ball over the line.
By now, it looked as though going on to seal the win would be a mere formality for the defending champions, but Indonesia had other ideas.
Moments after he forced Kawin into another smart save, Boaz reduced the deficit eight minutes after half-time when he met Rizki Pora’s excellent left-wing cross, and nodded it into the bottom corner.
And, in extremely similar fashion, the Merah Putih, miraculously, found themselves level just three minutes later.
This time, it was Benny Wahyudi who provided the delivery from the right. Lerby climbed high inside the Thailand box to guide his header past a stranded Kawin.
Two crazy goals in first half
As much as the Indonesians deserved credit for their spirited fightback, Thailand were also to blame for their lacklustre second-half display, although they were now awoken from their slumber.
Teerasil and Chanathip, in particular, loomed as the likeliest source for a breakthrough and, in the 79th minute, it was the former who restored their advantage.
Latching onto a neat layoff from Sarach Yooyen, Teerasil kept his cool to clinically dispatch a 20-yard drive into the bottom corner.
Remarkably, Indonesia then had one final chance to force the draw in the 90th minute when Boaz escaped his marker’s clutches inside the box and fired away a shot. But Kawin came to Thailand’s rescue with a fine save.
And right at the death, just for good measure, the War Elephants added a fourth when Sarach played a slide-rule pass to leave Teerasil with the simplest of tap-ins for his hat trick.
“The first game is always a hard one,” said Thailand coach Kiatisuk Senamuang. “Indonesia gave it their all and you could see they really wanted to win this match.
“After they got back into the contest, we were a bit lucky to get the third goal but we did, and then we were able to finish the game.”
Meanwhile, Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl lamented: “It was a good game but, of course, we’re not happy with the result.
“Thailand won deservedly, maybe they scored one goal too many [to accurately reflect the game] but things don’t always go as you wish.
“We conceded two very crazy goals in the first half but, after 2-0, we made it an open game and we also had some good chances to score in the second half.” (T/R07/R01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
