AFF WOMEN’S: Thais Too Strong For Malaysia

HO CHI MINH CITY (14 Sept 2012) – Even with mostly players from their national Under-19 squad, powerhouse Thailand still proved to be too strong for Malaysia as the defending champions walked away with a 4-0 win in the first game of Group B of the AFF Women’s Championship here at the Thong Nhat Stadium.

While Thailand had to mould a new squad due to the unavailability of players due to injuries and retirements, the still had with them several core players from last year including Junpen Seeraum, Sunisa Srangthaisong and Nisa Romyen.

For the Malaysians, they had made some changes to their squad and brought in some fresh faces like striker Lovelytha Jelus and Marcella Ramli.

And the result was that there was somewhat of an improvement from last year when they were beaten 8-1 by the Thais where this time round, they only conceded two goals in each half.

Thailand showed that even without their stalwarts, they can still be effective but whether this will be enough for them to successfully defend their crown remained to be seen.

Junpen opened account for the Thais in the tenth minute as she prised open the cagey Malaysian defence to nod home the cross from Sunisa. The Malaysians tried gamely to push forward but the Thais midfield were just too much of a stumbling block as Thailand then added the second goal in the 31^st minute off when Nisa raced ahead of Malaysian defender Eslilah Esar to score.

The change for Dhiya Razali at goal for the stumbling Nur Izwani at the start of the second half stemmed the tide somewhat as she made several good saves on a trot to deny Thailand the score line.

And just before the rain start to pour, Wilaiporn Boothduang rifled in a 75^th minute free kick from the left before Chidtawan Chawong then toe-poked the fourth goal six minutes later off a goalmouth melee.

Malaysia had a great chance to pull a goal back when they were awarded a penalty deep in injury time but striker Lovelytha shot her try straight to Thai custodian Waraporn Boonsing.

 

AFF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

(All matches at Thong Nhat Stadium)

GROUP A: Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines

GROUP B: Thailand, Laos, Malaysia