Supachai Chaided celebrated his recall to the national team by grabbing a brace that helped Thailand upset Kyrgyzstan 2-0 and give the War Elephants an ideal start in the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar on Tuesday night.
Supachai, who had received 19 stitches on his eyebrow during a Thai League 1 game on Jan 6, struck on either side of half-time as Masatada Ishii's men dominated their higher-ranked rivals in their first Group F game.
The Thais are so far the only Southeast Asian in the tournament to have won a match in the Asian Cup after Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam all kicked off their campaigns with losses.
Ishii and team manager Nualphan Lamsam both welcomed the upshot.
Ishii said: "It was a difficult one because it was the first match, but we got three points, so of course we are very happy with the result.
"Part of the implementation of the strategy is to bring the players who understand what we want to do. It's the connection between players that enabled us to get a good result.
"We need to look forward, to go step by step.
"Perhaps there are gaps between the players, but we have a good attack and that is something we can build on as the tournament goes on."
Nualphan praised the spirit of the War Elephants.
"In the world of football, the first match is always the difficult one.
"We played a higher-ranked team, but the expectation was there and so was pressure. We showed today that in football, anything can happen.
"I also praise coach Ishii for the tactics he used today, and these are very important three points for us. This has made the Thai people happy -- we have a chance to qualify for the next round now."
Missed chances
The margin of victory could have been wider had not the Thais missed a host of good scoring opportunities.
The War Elephants started in a confident mood at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium and Nicholas Mickelson made a spectacular dash up the right flank to create a chance for Supachok Sarachat in the 14th minute.
Supachok's shot hit the post and bounced back for Supachai to slot it home but his effort was ruled off-side.
Kyrgyzstan had another escape eight minutes later when Supachok's clever flick found Suphanat Mueanta but the young forward ended up slamming the ball into the bar.
Thailand were third time lucky when Bordin Phala's curling shot was warded off by Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper Erzhan Tokotaev only to see Supachai pounce on the opportunity and gladly guide the ball into the net on 26 minutes.
Kyrgyzstan had a chance in the closing minutes of the first half but Zhyrgalbek Uluu Kairat's grounder from outside the box failed to trouble Thailand goalkeeper Patiwat Khammai.
The second half began in the same fashion with the Thais dominating their opponents.
Two minutes after the restart, a long lob from Theerathon Bunmanthan found Suphanat but the OH Leuven forward was denied by a brilliant one-handed save by Tokotaev.
The War Elephants doubled their advantage soon afterwards when Nicholas' cross hit the back of Tamirlan Kozubaev, giving Supachai another tap-in for his second goal of the night.
Kyrgystan's only real opportunity to reduce the deficit came in the 52nd minute but Joel Kojo blasted his effort from close range over the bar as Thailand notched only their third ever victory in the Asian Cup.
Thailand will look to continue the momentum when they take on Oman on Sunday when Kyrgyzstan play against former champions Saudi Arabia.
Also in Group F, Saudi Arabia came from behind to beat Oman 2-1 in their opening match at a packed Khalifa International Stadium with Ali Al-Bulayhi's winner arriving in the sixth minute of stoppage time after a VAR intervention.
With the score tied at 1-1, Al-Bulayhi scored with a close-range header from a set piece and although the linesman's flag immediately went up for offside, VAR awarded Roberto Mancini's side the goal. Bangkok Post/Agencies