Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Thailand won the 2014 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship with a 4-3 aggregate win over Malaysia in the final despite losing 3-2 in Saturday’s second leg.
Although the Thais had dominated Wednesday’s opening encounter and claimed a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Charyl Chappuis and Kroekrit Thaweekarn, it was Malaysia who enjoyed the better of the proceedings in the first half at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
They opened the scoring after seven minutes when Safiq Rahim coolly sent Kawin Thamsatchanan the wrong way from the penalty spot, after Norshahrul Idlan Talaha was adjudged to have been brought down inside the box by Suttinun Phuk-hom.
Harimau Malaya duly doubled their tally just before the interval when Norshahrul’s right-wing cross picked out Indra Putra Mahayuddin, who made no mistake in steering his far post header into the back of the net.
The hosts then looked to have completed a stunning turnaround as they grabbed their third of the evening – and took the lead on aggregate – in the 58th minute; Safiq notching his sixth goal of the tournament with a sublime free-kick that beat Kawin convincingly.
Nonetheless, the War Elephants refused to give in and reclaimed the initiative when Chappuis scored on the rebound in the 82nd minute after Farizal Marlias could only parry Sarach Yooyen’s blistering shot into his path, which would have been enough to see them win the tie on the away goals rule.
But just for good measure, Kiatisuk Senamuang’s charges scored again with three minutes remaining when Chanathip Songkrasin found space outside the box and lashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner, sealing a 4-3 aggregate win for them in the process.
The triumph meant Thailand were crowned champions of Southeast Asia for the first time since 2002, and also saw them equal Singapore’s record haul of four titles.