AFF Suzuki Cup final begins Wednesday | Bangkok Post: news

Singapore host Thailand Wednesday in the first leg of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup final at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The match will be broadcast live in Thailand at 7pm.Thailand aims to take a lead in the away match - or at least have a draw Wednesday as they in the first leg of their semi-finals with Malaysia."Our target is to win in Singapore, or at least a draw," Thailand coach Winfried Schaefer said before the team left for the island state."I believe we can bring home a good result. If we avoid defeat in Singapore then we will be at an advantage in the second leg and should celebrate winning the title on Saturday." Game preview: Historic rivalry The second leg of the final will be at Bangkok's Supachalasai Stadium on Saturday.Key Thailand playmaker Datsakorn Thonglao had a stomach pain and will need a late fitness test to see if he can play Wednesday.Singapore would not be sad if Datsakorn misses the match.According to Goal.com, Singapore veteran Aide Iskandar believes the key to beating Thailand is in the mental game - in particular, dealing with midfield maestro Datsakorn.Over the years, Datsakorn has gained a notorious reputation of winding up opponents, and it looks like that tag will continue to stick after a clash with Malaysia's Fadhli Shas in the second leg of their semi-final resulted in the latter being sent off."I think the most important thing against Thailand is to keep our composure. We need to stop him [Datsakorn] as he's the link for their attacks, but the most important thing is that our players should not fall into his trap especially in off-the-ball incidents," Aide said.On the Singapore side, captain Shahril Ishak has led by example by scoring four goals while 42-year-old Aleksandar Duric, set to retire after the tournament, became the competition's oldest goal-scorer when he found the net against Malaysia."Like...