JP/6/THAI

JP/6/THAI

Thailand show why they are title favorites

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): After scoring two straight wins, defending champions Thailand are clearly the hot favorites to lift the men's football title again in this edition of the SEA Games, which for the first time is an under-23 tournament.

The Thais, who showed speed and precision passing, could have beaten frontrunners Singapore by a wider margin yesterday if not for the outstanding performance of Singapore goalkeeper Lionel Lewis.

Thailand's coach Dolez Otaka, however, played down their chances, saying that at the moment he was only confident of a semi-final slot.

After the 7-0 thrashing of Cambodia in their first game and the 1-0 win over Singapore, the Thais will play minnows Laos on Friday and Myanmar on Monday to complete their fixtures in Group A. Thailand are expected to top the group.

"Even against Laos we have to be very careful as their number 10 (Nitsavong Khovn Phachansy) and number 11 (Bounvong Vannabovathong) are very skillful...all the Laotian players are very fit," Otaka said.

Laos were beaten 0-4 by Singapore in their first game.

Otaka was pleased with the way his team have been playing, especially hotshot striker Manit Noyvach and teenage sensation Teeratep Winnothai who have been combining very well.

Manit scored a hat-trick, the first in this Games, in their win over Cambodia, while Teeratep scored the first goal of the tournament, also against Cambodia. Teeratep was on target again yesterday, scoring the winner against Singapore.

"Our upfront duo, Manit and Teeratep, combined very well and almost scored on three occasions against Singapore," he said.

Otaka reminded his players to stay focused and not to be carried away by the two victories.

When pressed further whether he was confident of taking the team to the final, he said he would rather take one match at a time.

"At the moment we are confident of a semifinal place. Vietnam, Indonesia and hosts Malaysia in the other group are about the same or stronger than Singapore," he said.

The Thais, who have won a record nine football gold medals in the Games, including four in a row from 1993 to 1999, are now gunning to equal Myanmar's record of five consecutive gold medals. Myanmar, known as Burma before, were the joint champions with Thailand in 1965, and retained the gold in 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1973.

Singapore coach Fleming Nielsen conceded that Thailand are the overwhelming favorites to lift the title again, saying that his team were lucky to be beaten only 0-1 by the Thais.

"We made a mistake in the first half by holding back which gave ample space to the Thai midfield...our offensive midfielders did not seem to exist at all in the first half.

"I am always disappointed when losing but we have to accept that the best team win," he said.

Singapore, who are tipped to qualify for the semifinals alongside Thailand from Group A, will play Cambodia on Wednesday and Myanmar on Friday.