Thailand reigns supreme to win Tiger Cup title
Thailand reigns supreme to win Tiger Cup title
BANGKOK (AFP): Worrawot Srimaka scored a hat-trick to steer Thailand to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Indonesia in the final to lift the Tiger Cup trophy at the Rajamangala Stadium Saturday.
Srimaka, suspended for the semifinal match against Malaysia, was in his element, scoring all three goals in the first half before he was substituted early in the second half.
Thailand's win confirmed its status as soccer king in Southeast Asia after first winning the Cup in 1996.
Thailand, which won US$80,000 as the champion, set a fast and furious pace at the start of the match, causing all sorts of problems for the more unsettled Indonesian team.
It was Thailand's Srimaka who tested Indonesian goalkeeper Hendro Kartiko as early as the fourth minute. He latched on to a cross from the left but his shot went straight to Hendro.
Indonesia, which received $40,000 as runner-up, caused the Thai defense some trouble, but not seriously as Thailand continued its attack and the crowd of over 50,000 had something to scream about when Srimaka scored in the 14th minute.
Thai skipper Surachai Jaturapattarapong sent in a superb cross from the left flank and Srimaka rose high above the Indonesian defenders to head it home.
Two minutes later Thailand's Kiatisuk 'Zico' Senamuang saw his shot saved but there was no stopping the marauding Thais who got their second goal in the 18th minute, again through Srimaka.
Tawan Sripan sent in a high pass from midfield and Indonesian defender misread the bounce of the ball which went over him to the unmarked Srimaka who made no mistake.
Indonesia hit one back two minutes later when Uston Nawawi beautifully curled in a freekick past the wall and goalkeeper.
Boosted by this goal, Indonesia threw itself into the game but it was too late. Srimaka got his hat-trick in the 43rd minute heading in a corner taken by Jaturapattarapong to make it 3-1.
Thailand completely outclassed Indonesia in the second half and made it 4-1 in the 65th minute when Thanongsak Pajakkat slammed the ball home from just outside the box from a poor defensive clearance.
Indonesia was reduced to 10 men in the next minute when Djet Donald Laala received his second yellow card of the match.
Meanwhile, unfancied Malaysia pulled off a major upset when it defeated favorite Vietnam to win the bronze medal in the earlier match.
Two-goal hero Rusdi Suparman led the Malaysians to this unexpected victory with Rosdi Talib putting them ahead in the first half, followed by two goals from Suparman in the second.
Malaysia's win dashed Vietnam coach Alfred Reidl's hopes of returning home with at least one medal to pacify the soccer-crazy Vietnamese fans.
He said after the match that some of his players did not play to expectations as they had not really recovered physically after the semifinal match against Indonesia which went into extra-time.
Abdul Rahman Ibrahim was elated with the surprise result, saying that it was one of Malaysia's better matches and that the reserve players he fielded gave a good account of themselves.
Vietnam, which was bundled out of the semifinals by Indonesia on Thursday, created several goalscoring chances but its dismal finishing let it down.
It also felt the absence of attacking midfielder Nguyen Hong Son who was forced to sit out the match after receiving two yellow cards.
It was certainly a fine performance by the Malaysians who earned $20,000 while Vietnam received half the amount.