Thais still Futsal kings

Thailand showed that they are still the team to beat in ASEAN when they romped to their fourth men’s Futsal title after beating hosts Malaysia 4-3 in the SEA Games final that was played at the Panasonic Sports Complex this evening.

The Thais, who suffered a rude awakening when they fell to a 4-2 loss to Indonesia in their first game of the competition last week, rebounded well to win their next two matches to set up a ‘final’ encounter against the hosts.

“We controlled the first half and scored three goals,” said Thai coach Pulpis. “But the second, we lost concentration and control of the game. That allowed Malaysia to come back and that is something which we need to work on.”

Alongside their bevy of stars, the Thais powered through the first half with goals from Kritsada Wongkaeo (3^rd), Suphawut (11^th and 27^th) and Apiwat Chaemcharoen (18^th).

The second half was all Malaysia as they fought back with goals from Syed Aizad Daniel Syed NAsir (24^th and 32^nd) and Yazid Kamaruzuan (28^th).

But that fightback came a little too late as the Thais held fast to add to the titles they won in 2007 (Thailand), 2011 (Indonesia) and 2013 (Myanmar).

“There was nervousness in the team and this was perhaps due to the high expectation of winning the gold,” said Malaysian head coach Chiew Chun Yong. “But I hope that from this silver, we look to develop Malaysian Futsal further. We need to do more.”

MEN’S FUTSAL FINAL STANDINGS (as at 27 August 2017)

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