War Elephants keep semis hopes alive

War Elephants keep semis hopes alive

Thai players celebrate after scoring a goal against Singapore on Sunday.
Thai players celebrate after scoring a goal against Singapore on Sunday.

Three-time defending champions Thailand defeated Singapore 3-0 on Sunday in the men's football competition of the 2019 SEA Games to improve their chances of making it to the semi-finals.

With their second win of SEA Games 2019, Thailand improved to six points from three matches in Group B.

Meanwhile, Vietnam pipped Indonesia 2-1 with an injury-time goal to stay three points ahead of the Thais. Indonesia also have six points. Laos beat Brunei 3-0 in another Group B match on Sunday to leapfrog Singapore into fourth place.

Singapore were put on the back foot very early in the match as two quick moves by Thailand's Supachai Chaided and Jaroensak Wonggorn rattled their defenders.

The War Elephants had their wish of scoring early in the match as Suphanat Mueanta eased past his markers inside the box and pulled the ball back from the line for Jaroensak to score from close range.

Suphanat then added his own name to the list of scorers in the 19th minute when the 17-year-old forward poked a lob from Ratthanakorn Maikami past Singapore goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad.

The third goal came in the 36th minute when Peerawat Akkraum converted a nifty pass from Kritsada Kaman.

Thailand coach Akira Nishino praised his men for executing the game plan well.

"This was our third match and the players have adapted themselves to conditions here well," added Nishino.

"We showed the thirst to win and we got a quick goal. After that we totally dominated the game in the first 30 minutes and it was enough for us to seal three points from the match.

"It is worrying that Supachok Sarachart has picked up an injury. I don't know the details yet but from I have gathered from the player, it isn't serious injury."

Chaba Kaew's target

The Thai women's team are hoping to wrest the top spot in Group B away from defending champions Vietnam by scoring heavily in their last first-round game against Indonesia on Monday.

The team had their last training session on Sunday and prepared for the Indonesia game by focusing on honing their scoring abilities.

Thailand are in second place in the group after a 1-1 draw with Vietnam, who hit six unanswered goals past Indonesia in their game on Friday to secure their place in the semi-finals.

The Chaba Kaew need to beat Indonesia by a bigger margin than the Vietnamese to take the No.1 place in the group and avoid facing the winners of the other group in the semi-finals.

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