Thailand poised for finals qualification

Thailand poised for finals qualification

Team earns precious point in last match

Thailand held North Korea to a scoreless draw in their last match of the Asian U23 Championship qualifying round at Rajamangala National Stadium last night.

Thailand's Chanathip Songkrasin, right, tries to break through the North Korea defence. Chanat Katanyu

Both had seven points from three games and North Korea booked a ticket to the finals in January as Group G winners, ahead of Thailand on goal difference.

With seven points, Thailand should also advance to the finals as one of the five best second-placed teams of the qualifying event which ended late last night.

At press time, Thailand were the best runners-up.

"Seven points should be enough. We have a 90 percent chance of qualifying for the Asian U23 Championship finals," Thailand coach Kiatisak Senamuang said after the match.

Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams in the qualifying round join hosts Qatar at the finals with the top three teams representing Asia at the 2016 Olympics.

In a lively match at Rajamangala, both Thailand and North Korea had chances to score but failed to break the deadlock.

In the other Group G match, Cambodia finished third after beating the Philippines 3-1.

Chan Vathanaka scored twice and Soeuy Vissal added the other for Cambodia while Arboleda Barace was on target for the Philippines.

In London, England's Football Association confirmed yesterday that plans to enter British men's and women's football teams at next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been abandoned.

The FA wanted to enter teams for the tournament, but had to scrap the proposals after encountering opposition from the football associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"After careful discussion, The FA has decided not to enter either a women's or a men's team into the Rio Olympics 2016," the FA said in a statement.

"We are disappointed not to be able to go ahead, given the fantastic opportunity it would have afforded the players and the broader exposure it would have brought to the game in our countries."

Great Britain fielded men's and women's teams at the London 2012 Olympics, where both sides were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

But Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are unwilling to repeat the experiment as they fear jeopardising their status as independent countries in the eyes of world governing body Fifa.

Trefor Lloyd Hughes, president of the Football Association of Wales, said that he had been "livid" when the FA informed him of its plans in a letter in January.

Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce had previously stated that he had been given "an absolute categorical reassurance" from Fifa that British teams would only be able to compete at the Olympics if all four home nations agreed.

Meanwhile, goal-hungry Japan floored Uzbekistan 5-1 with an explosive performance in a friendly yesterday, with young guns Takashi Usami and Gaku Shibasaki pointing to a bright future for the Blue Samurai.

Shibasaki scored Japan's third on 80 minutes with an outrageous lob from just inside the Uzbekistan half, before fellow substitute Usami capped a superb cameo by slamming in a fourth soon afterwards.

Toshihiro Aoyama triggered the rout after just six minutes in Tokyo with a sumptuous long-range volley and Shinji Okazaki doubled the home side's lead nine minutes into the second half with a classic poacher's strike.

The floodgates opened after Shibasaki's stunner. Uzbekistan replied two minutes later through Islom Tukhtakhujaev, only for Usami to slalom past three defenders and smash home his first goal for Japan.

There was still time for Kengo Kawamata to register his own maiden goal for his country, completing a perfect week for new coach Vahid Halilhodzic after Friday's 2-0 win over Tunisia.

Five of Japan's seven goals under the Franco-Bosnian have come from substitutes.

"It was a spectacular display," said Halilhodzic, who replaced Javier Aguirre after the Mexican was sacked over allegations of match-fixing dating back to his time in Spain.

"I'd like to say 'Bravo!' to the players. To score five goals is special. Nonetheless we won't get carried away as there is still work to be done." bangkok post/afp

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