Thailand edges Indonesia in SEAG soccer opener
Thailand edges Indonesia in SEAG soccer opener
JAKARTA (JP): Host Thailand played with ten men in the last 15 minutes, but managed to fight off Indonesia's challenge in the Group A match of the 18th Southeast Asian Games soccer competition in Chiang Mai yesterday.
Substitute Natipong Sritong-in struck a header in the 70th minute to give the title holder a morale boosting 2-1 win in a match marred by a red card.
The Indonesia-Thailand match kicked off the soccer competition which will end on Dec. 16, the penultimate day of the sporting extravaganza. The ten teams have been split into two groups, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals after a set of round-robin matches.
Thailand was reduced to ten men after Sanor Longpawang received the marching orders that tarnished Natipong's superb header. Sanor committed an intentional foul against Indonesian forward Fachry Husaini just five minutes after Natipong's goal.
The TV replay showed Sanor grabbing Fachry, who was not in possession of the ball, and throwing him down.
Fachry was a constant threat on the left flank of Thailand's defense. He slammed home one of Cahyo's cannon balls, which bounced off the bar past Thai goalkeeper Somchit Wathacapong for an equalizer in the 31st minute.
A minute later, the Thais pulled ahead with a goal from midfielder Surachai Jirasirichotee who blasted in a right-footer 20 meters from Kurnia Sandy's goal post.
Trailing one goal down, the Indonesian squad wasted too much time with error-prone passing in the final quarter. Romano Matte's men even loosened their defense to let Natipong rush into the box unmarked several times.
Natipong almost scored his second goal when he broke away from Indonesian defender Suwandi. The hard-running striker, who came into the pitch in place of under-form Vitoon Kijmongkolsak, latched a devastating right-footer, only to face Kurnia's brave dive.
The Indonesians kept up the pressure in the dying minutes, with Suwandi and Yudi Kuncahyo rallying their own half.
Indonesia's best goal scoring chance came only five minutes before the final whistle when Widodo executed a low pass from Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto. Widodo, however, shot it a meter wide of the right post.
Indonesia will play lowly Cambodia tomorrow and Malaysia on Friday. The Games will be declared open on Saturday. (amd)