 |
|
|
Thailand trounce Vietnam. Indonesia sneak home.
Thailand threw away any fears of not being good enough when they belted group A winners Vietnam SR 4-0 in their semi-final today.
Thailand only just snuck into the semi's after drawing 1-1 with co-hosts Singapore, giving them a better goal difference over the co-host.
Worawoot Srimaka got Thailand off to a great start when he fired home level with the penalty spot and scored on 24 minutes. A Therdsak Chaiman cross gifting him the free shot. The lead was doubled on 42 minutes when Narongchai Vachiraban found the back of the net. Thailand going into the break with a 2-0 advantage.
Thai substitute Sakda Joemdee added a third on 75 minutes, putting the game out of Vietnam's reach. Joemdee scored again in injury time to put the icing on the cake for Thailand.
Indonesia snuck home against a strong Malaysia side, scoring a single goal to reach their second successive Tiger cup final.
However the yellow of malaysia didn't seem to be phased by the massive home crowd for Indonesia, providing great entertainment for the match. Infact they came the closest to opening the scoring in the first half with Indra Putra (21 min) and Akmal Rizal Rakli (45 mins) both came close with curling free kicks.
The opening five minutes of the second half weren't great for indonesia either when Sugiyantoro header was just inches away from the upright. However Indonesia started to go on the counter and Bambang Pamungkas came close form the attack.
End-to-end play saw both sides creating chances but it wasn't until the 75th minute any resulted in a goal. Bambang got just enough deflection on the ball to sneak it past the keeper.
Despite some quick counter attacking by Malaysia and a missed opportunity to make it a two goal lead for Indonesia, the score remained 1-0, breaking Malaysian hearts despite their first class performance.
posted 28 December 2002 |
