Thailand maintained their unbeaten record in their World Cup Qualifier campaign with an unconvincing 4-2 victory over group whipping boys Chinese Taipei, better known as Taiwan. Thailand had already qualified for the next group stage but they were hoping to send out a message of intent to the rest of Asia.
However, for much of the first-half they lacked ideas up front and the defence looked vulnerable throughout the whole game. The unfancied visitors took a shock second minute lead when Do conceded a needless corner on the right with a wild clearance.
A perfect inswinger was delivered into the box and Yen made no mistake with a close-range header.Thailand dominated possession without creating a clear shooting chance until the thirty-seventh minute when the ball was pulled back from the left for Kroekrit to smash a shot against the crossbar.
Theerathon was at the heart of most of Thailand’s good work and the skipper was the architect of Thailand’s equalizer in the fortieth minute. He collected the ball out wide down the left and waltzed past a defender to reach the byline before sending over a pinpoint cross which left Teerasil with the simplest of headers.
Thailand looked more positive in the second-half and pushed forward in numbers. They took the lead in the fifty-second minute when Teerasil slid a perfectly weighted pass through for Anan to beat the offside-trap and leave the keeper helpless with a low shot.
The expected floodgates didn’t open and the visitors stunned Thailand with an equalizer in the sixty-fifth minute. There seemed little danger when the Thai’s had a three against one situation following a long ball out of defence. However, they failed to get in a challenge and the ball was knocked sideways for the unmarked Chen to smash into the net from twelve yards.
Thailand immediately brought on Adisak and it proved a master stroke when Thailand regained the lead seven minutes later. Chanabut did superbly to get to the byline down the left before sending over a dangerous low cross which Adisak got to first. The ball appeared to come off Adisak and hit a defender’s arm before ending up in the back of the net.
It got even better for Thailand in the seventy-fourth minute when Theerathon’s left-wing free-kick was deftly headed into the net, just inside the far-post by Chanabut. Taiwan caused a few more moments of concern for the Thai defence but that was the end of the scoring.
Thailand’s last group match is away to Iraq in March and the defence will have to tighten up if they are to remain unbeaten.