Laos suffered a heavy 14-0 defeat at the hands of defending champions Thailand while Malaysia carved out a 7-2 win over Timor Leste in the evening matches on the opening day of the AFF HDBank Futsal Championship at the Phu Tho Stadium here.
Thailand, the 12-time winners of this tournament, needed just over 40 seconds to hammer in the opening goal through Chaivat Jamgrajang, who soon doubled the score in the third minute. The Thais did not let up and within the first five minutes were already leading by five goals.
The Thai strikers were in menacing form this evening and it was tough for the Laos team to defend against such firepower. At the break, Thailand headed for the dressing room with a 8-0 lead. Laos managed to break through several times but were unable to plant the ball in the net.
“We are here with several players from the Under-20. It is important that while we look to do well and win, we also have to look towards the future,” said Thailand head coach Jose Mendez. “We played a serious game and it showed in the first half.”
It was the same story after the break as Thailand continued to pound their opponents. They added six more goals to set them well on the way to defending their title again and also to secure a place in the Asian Futsal Championship. The top four teams here will qualify for next year’s Asian meet.
In today’s match, Muhammad Osamanmusa was the leading scorer with three goals in the 14th, 23rd and 31st minutes. The other scorers were Chaivat (1st, 3rd), Weerasak Srichai (4th, 23rd), Jetsada Chudech (4th, 35th), Peerapol Satsue (5th, 37th), Nawin Rattanawongswa (8th), Waryt Wangsama-aeo (12th) and team captain, Nattavut Madyalan (35th).
Just prior to the start of the match, the Thai team paid their respects to their late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The cremation ceremony is currently underway in Bangkok.
Meanwhile in the last game of the night, Malaysia exploded with two early goals, courtesy of Akmarulnizam Mohd Idris and Abu Haniffa Hasan, in the second minute. But Timor Leste regrouped and took the fight to the Malaysians.
Bruno Gomez scored in the eighth minute, which clearly rattled their opponents. In the dying minutes of the first half, Malaysia scored through Abu Haniffa (18th) and Mohamad Awalluddin Nawi (19th) which gave them some relief as they headed to the dressing room.
“We were a bit slow in the first half and I really need to look at what’s wrong with the players,” said Malaysian head coach Chiew Chun Yong.
“We have picked up the first three points, so tomorrow we will need to do better against Laos.”
The Malaysians kept up the pressure and managed to slot in three more goals to secure full points and end the day second in the group behind Thailand. Mohamad Awalluddin (26th), Mohd Khairul Effendy (32nd) and Mohd Azwann Ismail (36th) scored for Malaysia while Ilidio Nunes netted the second goal for Timor in the 31st minute.
In the opening match of the tournament, Myanmar raced away to a resounding 13-0 win over Brunei while Indonesia wiped out the Philippines 21-0 in the other Group A tie today. The early wins for Myanmar and Indonesia are crucial to their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals and in the process qualifying for the Asian Futsal Championship.
Today’s Results
Group A
Myanmar bt Brunei 13-0
Indonesia bt Philippines 21-0
Group B
Thailand bt Laos 14-0
Malaysia bt Timor Leste 7-2
Tomorrow’s Fixtures
Group A: Philippines vs Vietnam, Indonesia vs Brunei
Group B: Laos vs Malaysia, Timor Leste vs Thailand
