Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tashkent: Four goals from Suphawut Thueanklang saw Thailand claim third place at the AFC Futsal Championship with a comprehensive 8-0 victory over Vietnam on Sunday.
A first half brace from Apiwat Chaemcharoen, two Suphawut penalties and another goal from Jetsada Chudech helped Thailand establish a commanding 5-0 half-time lead.
And two more goals from Suphawut and another from Jirawat Sornwichian in the second half completed the comprehensive victory.
In a match played at a high intensity throughout, both sides looked to attack with pace right from the kick-off with Thailand’s Suphawut forcing a sharp save from Vietnam goalkeeper Nguyen Van Huy in the opening minute.
Nguyen then twice denied Thailand again over the opening five minutes, but there was little the Vietnam goalkeeper could do with a powerfully driven free-kick from the left from Jetsada that whizzed into the far corner of his goal on six minutes.
Vietnam managed to carve out a couple of half chances and Apiwat hit the post before doubling Thailand’s lead as he was on hand to poke home a rebound midway through the first half.
And after a delightful series of passes down the left that picked apart the Vietnam defence, Nattavut Madyalan feed Apiwat who slashed home his second of the half to extend Thailand’s lead with eight minutes remaining in the opening period.
Suphawut’s penalty handed Thailand a fourth after Vietnam has accumulated a sixth foul, and after another foul soon after, Suphawut added a fifth in similar fashion.
Vietnam came out with renewed purpose at the start of the second half, but it was Thailand who still had the better of the chances with Suphawut crashing a shot off the underside of the crossbar and Apiwat flashing another good effort across the face of goal.
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Wiwat Thaijaruen forced another sharp save from Nguyen before a sixth arrived for Thailand in the 33rd minute as Nguyen advanced to the edge of his penalty area and Jirawat was able to slide the ball under the Vietnam goalkeeper to extend the lead.
A mistake from Vietnam with four minutes remaining then saw the ball fall to the feet of Suphawut on the edge of the area, and with the defence out of place, he drove a powerful shot low to the left to complete his hat-trick.
And the scoring was completed in appropriate fashion when Suphawut drove home a free-kick in the final minute to seal the win.
Photo: AFC