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Published on December 23, 2007

Coach Chanvit Pholchivin breathed a huge sigh of relief after watching his team score a last-gasp winner to seal a thrilling 3-2 win over Uzbekistan in the King's Cup tournament at the Rajamangala National Stadium yesterday.

The game looked destined for a draw until defender Natthaporn Panlit's surge from the opposite end got the defending champions off to a winning start in front of a sparse crowd. The visitors had every right to feel aggrieved after they dragged themselves back from two goals down and at times in the second half looked the more likely to claim the winner.

Chanvit was understandably happy after his men were able to topple the team lying 64th in the world's ranking but admitted his men still have room for improvement. "I'm satisfied with the outcome. We did not play well but still claimed the win. Indeed, we could have won the game easily had our attackers been able to take their chances.

"It's our first game and we only had a short period to prepare for the tournament. We needed more time to gel together," Chanvit said.

Chanvit's men next face Iraq tomorrow in the tournament which also features North Korea.

The visitors' preparation for the tournament was far from perfect as they arrived in Bangkok only on Thursday, which meant they had little time to adapt to the humid conditions. The Uzbek side's difficulty in adjusting to the conditions was visible in the opening stages, which Thailand dominated.

In the second minute, striker Piphop Onmo, who made his national debut, found Pichitphong Choeichiu with acres of space on the left but the midfielder fired his shot well wide from outside the area.

The home team, however, did not have to wait long to open the scoring as seven minutes later a slack pass in the visitors' half resulted in a foul on Sarayoot Chaikamdee inside the area by the goalie.

Sarayoot took the spot-kick himself and sent the ball into the bottom corner, with goalkeeper Temur Juraev diving the opposite way.

The visitors appeared to find their rhythm towards the end of the first half. Pavel Solomin warmed Kosin Hthairattanakul's hands with a stinging shot. Ilhom Yunosov also had a good chance, but he sent the ball wide of the left post.

The hosts had a golden chance to extend their lead in the 38th minute when Piphop latched on to Narongchai Vachiraban's flick inside the area but failed to beat the goalkeeper. In-form Sarayoot showed a calm head, moments later, to put the home team two goals ahead when he received Nirut Surasiang's killer pass and burst into the area before coolly slipping the ball past the goalie.

However, the home defence allowed the visitors to get back into the game when Farhod Tadjiyev completed a nice passing move in clinical fashion. The goal clearly spurred the visitors on as they emerged from the interval with renewed vigour.

Having put the home team on the back foot for long periods, Uzbekistan eventually hauled themselves back after Tadjiyev scored his second goal in the 59th.

Chances continued to flow at both ends. Just when it looked set for a draw, Natthaporn popped up at the right time to seal the win for the hosts.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation