Chachrit strike gives Thailand the cushion
[SOCCER] Young striker Chachrit Buathong proved a super sub for Thailand scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 away victory over hosts Turkmenistan in the Pre-Olympic preliminary qualifying round at the Olympic stadium in Ashgabat yesterday.
The win helped Thailand gain the upper hand before the return leg at Supachalasai stadium in Bangkok next Wednesday. The winners of the tie would progress to the second round group-stage. Despite the afternoon kick-off (3pm local time), temperatures were as low as 5 Celsius degrees. In the first-half, Thailand were in total control but the two strikers, Teeratep "Leesaw" Winothai and Ronachai Rungsiyo, were kept at bay by the defenders. The first half ended without any goal. After the interval, the Thai team got their first sight of the goal five minutes into the second-half when Jakapan Kaewprom whipped in a corner to centre-back Kiatprawut Siawaew who failed to guide his header home. The home side seemed to be happy to let the visitors come at them and then look for a counter-attack. They had a few decent chances from swift attacks but all went begging. Knowing that an away goal is important in deciding the fate of the tie, Thailand made a change minutes after the hour mark, bringing in Chachrit for the ineffective Ronachai. The BEC Tero Sasana forward then turned the course of the game in favour of the visitors by dispatching a well-taken strike 15 yards out, which proved to be the decisive goal. Kasem Jariyawatwong, the team manager, was understandably delighted with the result: "It's a pity that we scored only one goal. I think we should have won with a few more goals. However, I'm satisfied with the outcome considering the pitch condition and the cold weather here." Australia awesome nIn Adelaide, Australia all but secured their place in the next stage of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics with an 11-0 thrashing of Taiwan in the first leg of their play-off at Hindmarsh Stadium yesterday. It was just one goal short of the record win for an Australian Olympic team after the 12-0 result against Vanuatu here in 1996. Melbourne Victory midfielder Kristian Sarkies scored four goals with Adelaide United striker Bruce Djite scoring once and setting up five others. The second leg of the play-off takes place in Taipei on February 14.
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