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Published on August 16, 2007

The home team went into the game, reeling from the suspension of three of their players following the International University Sport Federation's ruling for a late melee in Monday's quarter-final tie against Mexico.

Amte Stargorodskyy put the visitors in front with a 20-yard shot in the 20th minute. Parity, however, was restored two minutes later with Wuttichai Tatong's equaliser.

The game was edging towards a draw when Andriy Zaporozhan capped Ukraine's counter-attack with a drive just in front of the area which found the back of the net via a cruel deflection off a Thai defender, a strike which sent the home crowd into a deathly silence.

Moments later, the final whistle was blown, Tears welled the faces of the Thai players, who came agonisingly close to qualifying for the final for the first time.

Despite the loss, the Thai players were able to leave the field with their heads held high. The partisan crowd of more than 10,000 gave them big applause. It was a huge achievement for the hosts to reach the last four. Their best was a sixth place in three previous appearances in the biennial tournament.

The Thai team managers, Tawatchai Sajjakul and Juta Tingsapat, had nothing but praise for their players, who performed brilliantly only to be undone by a sucker punch in the last minute.

"They did their best. We must praise the work of not only the players but also the people who were behind the stage. For what we did, people can no longer dismiss us as rank outsiders," said Tawatchai.

Thailand will battle it out with Canada in the third-place play-off at Royal Thai Army stadium on Saturday.

In the other semi-final match, Italy beat Canada 2-1.