One of Asean football's most enduring rivalries is set to come full circle at the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup final as Thailand and Malaysia prepare to do battle once again with regional supremacy on the line.
Rajamangala will be packed to its capacity on Wednesday.
It is a reprise of the very first Asean Football Championship final in Singapore on Sept 15, 1996 when a Malaysia side anchored in midfield by 33-year-old Dollah Salleh, now coach of his national team, set up a showdown with a talented Thai outfit featuring mercurial 23-year-old striker Kiatisak Senamuang, now boss of his national side.
There were contrasting fortunes for the current national coaches at the National Stadium that evening as an injured Dollah never got a chance to play while Kiatisak, having scored against the Tigers in a 1-1 draw during the group stage, became a national hero after firing home a spectacular ninth minute strike for the only goal of the game.
It has taken 18 years for the War Elephants and Malaysia to set up another meeting in the final but there have several other encounters between the two rivals in the intervening years, with many of them having a major bearing on the destiny of the competition.
Apart from 1998, the two teams have met in every other edition of the Asean Football Championship with Thailand dominating the series, winning six of 11 matches. However, Malaysia have had the upper hand on a couple of occasions and earned a crucial draw in 2010 en route to the first title.
Following the 1996 final, their next clash came in the 2000 semi-finals in Bangkok and for the third match in a row against Malaysia, Kiatisak got on the scoresheet, opening the scoring before Tawan Sripan struck to give the hosts a 2-0 victory en route to their second regional title.
Malaysia finally found a way to stop the Thai striker when the teams met in the group stage two years later in Singapore as Therdsak Chaiman's opener was cancelled out by Akmal Rizal Rakhli, Tengku Hazman and Indra Putra Mahauyddin in a 3-1 win for Tigers. They took top spot in the group but went out to Indonesia in the last four while the Thais won the tournament for the third time.
Two years later in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia won again as a brace by Khalid Jamlus earned them a 2-1 victory that sent the Thais crashing out at the group stage for the first time. Malaysia reached the last four but were eliminated again by Indonesia.
The Thais would win the next two group stage meetings on home soil, 1-0 in Bangkok in 2007 and 3-0 in Phuket in 2008 during their runs to the final but in Jakarta in 2010, the teams battled to a hard-fought goalless draw that would prove crucial to their tournament destinies. Thailand bowed out at the group stage while Malaysia kick-started a campaign which ended with them lifting the trophy for the first time.
Thailand exacted revenge two years later in the semi-finals, holding Malaysia to a 1-1 draw in Kuala Lumpur and winning 2-0 in Bangkok with goals by Teerasil Dangda and Theerathon Bunmathan to reach the final for a record sixth time.
The latest meeting took place just three weeks ago in Singapore when the War Elephants twice came back from deficits to win 3-2 to stretch their unbeaten record against the Tigers in the competition to five games.
Malaysia will get another chance to end that winless run in the final and it should prove to be an intriguing battle as Thailand look to end their 12-year title drought in the competition.
The first leg will be held at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium on Wednesday and the second leg in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Thailand will be spurred on by their fans in the first leg as Rajamangala will be packed to its 50,000 capacity.
Tickets for the Bangkok match have been sold out, and a giant screen will be set up outside the stadium.
"We must win in the first leg,'' said Kiatisak.
The venue for the second leg has been moved from Shah Alam to Bukit Jalil but Kiatisak is not worried about the switch.
"We can play at any stadium, and our target remains the same — win the title," Kiatisak said.
Thailand will get over 20 million baht in bonus and prize money if they regain the title they last won in 2002. bangkok post/affsuzukicup.com