The first leg of the 2014 AFF Championship Final ended with a 2-0 win for the Thais. Playing in front of capacity crowd of Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Kiatisak ‘Zico’ Senamuang’s crew overcame Malaysia with a couple of goals from Charyl Chappuis and Kroekrit Thawikan. The result brought Thailand closer to their fourth ASEAN title. However, The War Elephants still have to travel to Kuala Lumpur for the second leg before they can lift the trophy.
First Half
For the first time in the tournament, Adisak Kraisorn got the chance to play as starter. He played as lone striker with Chanathip Songkrasin and Charyl as supports. The visitors, Malaysia, put up the same team who trashed Vietnam in Hanoi prior to the final, with Norshahrul Talaha and Indra Putra Mahyuddin upfront. The match itself showcased a classic youngsters (Thailand) against experienced (Malaysia).
Malaysia came to Bangkok not for a pity result. At least they showed struggle to bring something back to Kuala Lumpur for the second leg. They won the first shot on goal when Amri Yahya headed Safiq Rahim’s cross inside Thai’s box. The header comfortably landed in Kawin’s grasp with no difficulties for the Thai keeper.
The host replied with another inside-the-box chance right after Yahya’s. With a well-crafted passing game involving Charyl, Weerawatnodom and Mongkol, the latter-mentioned player blasted the shot over Farizal Marlias’ goal.
On the 6th minute, Malaysia got another opportunity to score. Following a missed pass from Thai player, Safiq sent a long pass which was connected by Indra with a first time lob towards Norshahrul. On a breakaway, the Malaysian no. 9 decided to go for glory with a half-volley outside the box, which forced Kawin to make a remarkable save.
Malaysia put up a thick wall in midfield to keep Thailand at bay. The strategy seemed to be working quite successfully as the Thais resorted to fire shots from outside the box. In fact, Thailand barely got their first shot on goal on the 30th minute from Sarach Yooyen’s long-range effort, which was saved by Farizal.
At the end of the half, Adisak broke free from Malaysian defense following Fahdli Shas’ error and found himself in a 1-on-1 situation with Farizal. Luckily, the Farizal was quick to close Adisak’s shooting angle and made a great save as he kept the score line goalless at 1st half.
Second Half
No changes made by both coaches at the start of the second half. Malaysia kept on playing a long-high ball up front hoping to overpower Thai defense with 3 experienced player: Norshahrul, Amri Yahya, Indra Putra. Thailand, on the other hand, adjusted their attacking focus to the flanks.
First chance of the 2nd half for Thailand came on the 54th minute. Overlapping Weerawatnodom on the left side of Malaysian defense placed a cut back pass towards an unmarked Mongkol inside the box. Unfortunately, Mongkol’s first time shot went higher than Farizal’s crossbar.
Just about a minute later, Adisak roamed free inside Malaysian penalty box. Once again, Weerawatnodom was involved. A long throw from the Thai right back caught Fadhli Shas and Shukor Adan off guard. Luckily for them, Adisak put too much power on his half-volley, which ended with the ball hitting the sponsor’s car on the gravel instead of blasting Farizal’s net.
The night wasn’t Adisak’s night after all as he failed to score on another opportunity. Receiving Mongkol’s first touch pass on the left side inside the Malaysian box, Adisak, who scored a double against the same side in the Group Stage on Nov 26, fired a weak shot which was caught by Farizal. Right after that, Malaysia turned the table and threatened Thai defense. Amri Yahya tried to pull another daisycutter shot goal towards Kawin, but the Thai keeper/captain anticipated it with a save.
On the 70th minute, Chanathip fired a good long range shot which Farizal could only parry. Weerawatnodom was the quickest to reach the rebound and sent a first-time cut back pass towards Adisak. With a clever body faint, Adisak deceived Fahdli and forced the Malaysian back to bring down the Thai striker inside the box. Penalty for Thailand.
Charyl Chappuis who scored the decisive penalty on the win over Singapore in Thai’s first match of the competition, stepped up and conversed the spot kick convincingly. Thailand 1, Malaysia 0.
Dollah Salleh responded to the situation by making a double change: Safee Sali and Baddrol Bakhtiar brought in to replace Amri Yahya and Badhri Radzi on the 75th minute. Not long after his introduction, Baddrol tested Kawin with a 35m long-range, which was easily secured by the Thai keeper.
A single goal wasn’t enough for the Thais. They still tried to score another while playing with full discipline during defense. Their struggle and patience came up positive on the 86th minute. A combination of passes on the left wing between Kroekrit and Prakit released Chanathip running with his quick legs towards Malaysian box. Chanathip then boost up his speed to beat Fahdil Shas and sent the ball to Kroekrit in the middle. Kroekrit made no mistake and netted his 3rd goal in 2 consecutive matches. Thailand 2, Malaysia 0.
The goal lifted Thais’ confidence and put the Malaysians on their knees. In the 88th minute, the Thais pulled a tiqui-taca style and produced approximately 27 successful passes before Charyl fired the ball wide. The play was quite of an entertainment for the viewers.
With the time ran out, Safiq & co. tried their best to put one through Thai’s defence. They got their last chance of the game in the depths of injury time when Baddrol sent the ball across to Indra Putra, who then placed a dipping header towards the upright corner of Kawin’s goal. But Kawin managed to keep the goal clean on his watch by making a fingertip save.
The match ended with a 2-0 score line for Thailand.
Thailand: 1. Kawin; 13. Weerawatnodom, 5 Phukhom, 17. Tanaboon, 2. Perapat; 7. Charyl, 6. Sarach (19. Adul 90’+1′; 11 Mongkol (12. Prakit 68′), 18. Chanathip, 4. Kroekrit; 9. Adisak.
Malaysia: 1. Farizal; 16. Kunanlan, 12. Shukor, 27. Fadhli, 21. Zubir; 19. Azamuddin, 8. Safiq, 14. Badhri (23. Baddrol 75′), 17. Amri (10. Safee 75′); 13. Indra Putra; 9. Norshahrul (18. Manaf 88′).
***
It wasn’t a surprise that the Thais were on the upper hand throughout the match. Home advantage and 0 defeat, only conceded 3 goals and already scored 10 surely put The War Elephants as favorites. They proved their quality by showcasing a fast structured play. Malaysia, on the other hand, showed that they were looking for a beneficial result for the 2nd leg. The plan fell through as they failed to compose a strong discipline stronghold on their defense.
Thai’s domination is shown by their 59% ball possession over Malaysia. The hosts completed 325 passes with 76% accuracy, better than the visitors’ with 187 success passes and 64% accuracy. 19 shots were fired by Thailand players throughout the match, in which 7 of them shot towards Farizal Marlias’ goal and produced 2 goals. Malaysia only made 8 shots, but 5 of them were heading towards goal.
Malaysians rough play produced more fouls than the number of successful tackles. 22 fouls were committed by the Malaysians and only 19 successful tackles were made. The record is followed by 2 yellow cards for Amri Yahya and Indra Putra. Meanwhile, Thailand only committed 8 fouls but managed to make 21 successful tackles.
Chanathip Songkrasin maybe failed to score in the match, but his contribution was immense. The player with the nickname ‘Messi Jay’ assisted Thai’s second goal and produced 44 successful passes with 84.6% accuracy. He also successfully made 4 dribble attempts with 66.6% success rate. He showed a pretty good composure while facing the experienced Safiq Rahim and Shukor Adan. He surely is the Man of the Match.