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Published on January 30, 2008

In the last game of the day, Thailand had a good outing, with the Asean champions holding

the Netherlands 3-3 in a thrilling game.

The kings of the five-a-side sport, the Brazilians, had a sluggish start as their first goal came late in the first half, when William Alves Morais fired team-mate Lenisio Teixeira Junior's bounce from left of the box.

However, Paulo Cesar Oliveira's side came alive after the interval blasting another three goals, with Morais being credited with one of those and Lenisio Junior scoring the other two.

"We have not had much time in preparation due to our long journey. I hope the players will get back into shape and that we can reach the semi-finals and even  the final," Oliveira said.

"Our team did not fare well in the first half as this was the first time we played the Chinese. As a result, we took time to study the Chinese.

"The Chinese players surprised us with their progress," Oliveira said. 

The Argentinian boys lived up to their billing of defending champions, demolishing England 12-1 in their first Group A match.

Indonesia failed to record a win after losing their first two matches, 5-1 to Australia and  3-2 to Malaysia. Against Australia, Angga Suryasaputra gave Indonesia the lead in the 18th minute, but Australia came back to score twice within two minutes for a well-deserved 2-0 lead at the break.  Three more goals completed the Australian dominance.

"We failed in the physical aspect of the match. Australia played better than us and they deserve to win," Indonesia coach Justinus Lhaksana said.

In today's games, Thailand face China, while England take on Indonesia. Former champions Argentina play the hosts and Iran will face off with Brazil. The Netherlands play China in the last match.

Somporn Suphop

 The Nation

Kuala Lumpur