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Published on December 15, 2007

With the backing of a partisan full-house crowd, the home side - dressed in yellow in honour of the beloved King - gave a timely performance of true champions.

Having met the Burmese in the group phase, when the visitors rallied from three goals down only to lose 3-2, the hosts ensured there was no repeat of such a lapse of determination with a committed display to seal Thailand's 13th SEA Games football crown.

When Anont Sangsanoi continued his rich vein of scoring form by putting the home team in front with his sixth goal in as many games, Thailand were on the way to victory.

Star striker Teeratep "Leesaw" Winothai, who already had three Games titles under his belt, doubled the advantage before half-time to take his tally in the tournament to five.

As the tournament is restricted to players under 23, the former Crystal Palace youth team player will be too old to participate next time.

Thailand had a host of chances in the second half but outstanding saves and poor finishing meant the scoreline stayed the same.

For a soccer-crazy nation like Thailand, the gold medal appeared to have more significance than the others the country won - or even the overall Games title.

Having steered the Thais to success in his first tournament in charge, Thongsuk Sumpahangsit was understandably delighted with another piece of history created by his men.

"I reckoned it was daunting to lead the team in the SEA Games, as people had high expectations of us," he said.

"The experience in working with national head coach Chanvit Pholchivin proved very useful. We had excellent teamwork in preparing the team and that brought the title.

"By winning the gold medal, I feel I have cleared the burden on my shoulders. I'm very proud of my team, as this gold meant a lot to the people. This victory perfectly marked the auspicious year when the Thais celebrated the King's 80th birthday."

With the highly anticipated showdown beckoning, the hype was thick in the air over Nakhon Ratchasima as fans arrived at the venue early in the morning in the hope of snapping up the last tickets, which had sold like hot cakes in recent days.

The more the day progressed, the more the excitement was palpable, with the number of fans significantly increasing in the early afternoon.

Even though there were other sports at the nearby gymnasiums, most people opted to wait outside the main stadium. Some even queued in front of gates guarded by officials, as they wanted to occupy preferred seats.

The atmosphere was further brought to life by drums and bugles played noisily by a group of fans.

Merchants enjoyed brisk trade by selling many items such as flags and headbands in national colours.

With kick-off a few hours away, traffic around the venue was almost in a state of paralysis, leaving officials with a lot of work to alleviate congestion.

As soon as the gates opened, fans scrambled to the stands. By the time the third-place play-off was completed, which was three hours before the final, the stadium was already half-full.

There were still lines of people entering the venue as kick-off approached. The crowd turned the stadium into a cauldron of noise aided by musical instruments, with Mexican waves also descending on the stands.

As electric as the atmosphere was, both set of players were greeted to a rapturous welcome when they took to the field. It was clear the evening would unfold to be one of those memorable events.

As a precaution, hundreds of security officials including riot police were on duty at the stadium. There was no scene of crowd trouble despite some flashpoints on the field, particularly in the opening half when the visitors committed some nasty challenges.

Kitinan Sanguansak

 The Nation

Nakhon Ratchasima