Thailand coach Mano Polking has all the right to be in a buoyant mood after the War Elephants' 4-0 hammering of Indonesia in the first leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup final on Wednesday night.
The War Elephants already have one hand on the regional championship title and they are now the overwhelming favourites to take home what would be a record-extending sixth trophy.
The result at the Singapore National Stadium was ensured by Thailand skipper and playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin, who netted the first two goals of the match.
The second leg of the title showdown is to be played tomorrow at the same venue with Indonesia coach Shin Tae-Young openly admitting that a comeback doesn't seem to be on the cards.
A naturally delighted Polking told a post-match news conference that he knows now the title is Thailand's to lose.
"We now have a big advantage," said the Thailand coach.
"Of course we shouldn't make too big a party but we know now that it is in our hands to bring the trophy back to Thailand.
"It was a great performance and I want to praise the players who executed the game plan in an unbelievable way, really it was all down to the hard work of the players."
With the scoreboard showing the Thais 3-0 ahead, Polking made an unexpected goalkeeper substitution as Kawin Thamsatchanan replaced Siwarak Tedsungnoen with a quarter of an hour remaining.
"I would like to say that we respected Indonesia but because Kawin's father passed away before the match starts, so we wanted to serve Kawin's dedication by creating a good time of him to play for his father," explained Polking.
Indonesia coach Shin, on his part, knows that it will take some sort of a miracle now to turn things around in tomorrow's second leg.
"I accept the defeat and I know that it may be impossible to come back and defeat Thailand in the second leg, especially if we play like we did in the second half tonight," Shin told media after the match.
"However, we won't give up and we'll keep fighting. I'm not going to focus too much on what went wrong tonight but rather on what we did well to keep encouraging the players."
A goal from Chanathip after just 90 seconds, the fastest in the history of the AFF Suzuki Cup championship match, put Thailand 1-0 up at the break before he completed his brace seven minutes after the restart.
Further efforts from Supachok Sarachat and Bordin Phala rounded out the win for a Thai side that rotated seven starters from the team that featured in the second leg of the semi-final.
Thailand entered the final after 2-0 aggregate victory over defending champions and arch-rivals Vietnam in the two-legged semi-final. Chanathip was the hero of the Thai victory, scoring both goals in the first leg.
Indonesia defeated Singapore 5-3 on aggregate in the other semi-final.