Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Hamedan: Thailand scored a late penalty to edge Tajikistan 2-1 in their opening fixture of the AFC U-14 Championship on Tuesday.
The win sent Thailand to the top the Group B table thanks to the mumber of goals scored, narrowly ahead of Iraq who had earlier defeated Korea Republic 1-0 at the Mofateh Stadium. .
Thailand took the lead in the ninth minute when striker Pornchai Wiroja headed home captain Thanawat Auethanapaisarn’s accurate corner. Tajikistan replied shortly before the half-hour mark through a powerful pile driver from Vahdat Hanonov, who caused plenty of problems down the right throughout the match.
With the match seemingly heading for a draw, Thailand were awarded a penalty, Thanawat duly sending the Tajikistan goalkeeper the wrong way to seal an important victory ahead of their clash with Korea Republic on Thursday.
“We are making our plans based on the team and today the plan worked though it was a difficult match against a strong opponent,” Thailand coach Somsak Senchaowanich said.
“We came here to win and our thinking is only on the next match against Korea Republic. At the moment we are not thinking anything about our last match against Iraq.
“What I can confirm now is that the approach will not be the same against both these sides, we will keep on changing our strategy,” he added.
“The defeat is difficult to take as we played really well,” lamented Tajikistan coach Rajab Rasulov who saw his side reduced to 10-men late on when referee Viramuthu Parasuraman dismissed Shahrom Aduloev.
“I am proud of the way we played and we gave a good fight, at the same time I am sad to see nothing coming from the match despite playing good football,” he added.