Thailand again dashes men"s hopes of gold

Teerathep Winothai scored a hattrick to help Thailand defeat Viet Nam 3-0 and win the much-prized 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games football gold medal yesterday evening.

It was Thailand”s seventh triumph in succession at the region”s major sporting festival.

Thailand dominated throughout the match at the Panaad Stadium and unlike their last victory, also against Viet Nam in Ha Noi two years ago, never appeared threatened by the silver medalist.

In stark contrast to the their 2-1 loss in the Agribank Cup football tournament early last month, the Thais went on the offence from the beginning and made the Vietnamese play catch-up” football.

They controlled every position and managed the ball in almost all contests as the Vietnamese failed to take it off them.

Winothai opened the score in the 43rd minute although many Vietnamese believed that their team had been fortunate to end the first half with a clean sheet.

The goal came from a mistake by a Viet Nam”s defender.

In an effort to head the ball away, Hai Lam gave it to Winothai who defeated Vietnamese goalkeeper Bui Quang Huy with a fierce shot that went through the legs of several players and into the net.

The second and third goals resulted from superb co-operation between Winothai and fellow striker Ekafan Inthasen.

Each time, Inthasen took a long pass from out of defence, broke Viet Nam”s confused line and gave the ball to Winothai who, with only Quang Huy to beat, bagged two more goals at the 53th and 82nd minutes of the match.

Thailand”s easy victory proved they are the region”s best team.

Viet Nam, Indonesia and Malaysia have improved but they are still no match for the rampant Thais.

The performance of Winothai and his team-mates showed just how well prepared they are.

They did not tire and always followed the tactics set by their coaches.

Whenever, Viet Nam had ball, two Thai players were ready to tackle and almost always took it back.

Their intensity made it impossible for the Vietnamese players to follow any plan or regularly clear the ball out of the centre.

Although Viet Nam had scoring chances, they were inaccurate and easily blocked.

Thailand has never lost to Viet Nam in SEA Games competition.

Thailand went through Pool A undefeated.

In an early game, Malaysia beat Indonesia 1-0 for the bronze medal.

(VNS)