Thailand are just a step away from defending the gold they won two years ago, when they crushed Indonesia with a comprehensive 5-0 beating in the second semi-finals of the men’s football event at the National Stadium tonight.
The Thais continued their fine form in the group stage to score twice in the first half before adding three more after the break for the well-deserved victory in front of at least 3,000 Thai fans.
“I think that we thoroughly deserved this victory because we worked very hard for it,” said Thai coach Choketawee Promrut.
“Now we should concentrate on the final before thinking about the taking home the gold medal.”
Indonesia who have put their off the pitch troubles to book their place in the semi-finals this year were not in the least daunted by the prospect of taking on the defending champions.
They moved the ball around freely at start but after making some mistakes to give away possessions, they began to put themselves under pressure before Thailand took the initiative to stamp their authority.
And it did not take Thailand long to prise open the first goal after Indonesia failed to carve out the lead in the 12th minute through Syaiful Cahya’s freekick.
Rungrat Phumichantuk was on hand a minute later to finish the effort fromThitiphan Puangjan that was blocked by Indonesian custodian Teguh Amiruddin.
In the 29th minute, Thailand doubled the advantage where off a corner from Nurul Sriyankem, the unmarked Thitiphan nodded the ball home to send the Thai fans to their feet.
In a five-minute blitz after the break, Thailand were in complete control as they destroyed Indonesia’s confidence. In the 51st minute, Rungrat got in between two Indonesian defenders to head the cross from Nurul before Narubadin Weerawatnodom slammed in the rebound from the far post.
And a minute to the end, Chanathip Songkrasin completed the rout with a well taken grounder from the edge of the Indonesian box.
“We tried but we were simply outclassed,” said Indonesian coach Aji Santoso. “We seem to put ourselves under unnecessary pressure.”
With the win, Thailand will now take on Myanmar in the final for the gold medal in two days at the same venue. Indonesia will battle Vietnam for the bronze.
Earlier in the first semi-final, Myanmar sprung a surprise when they edged Vietnam 2-1.
SEMI-FINALS – 13 June 2015
RESULTS
Myanmar 2 Vietnam 1
Thailand 5 Indonesia 0
