SINGAPORE (24 December 2024) – Thailand will resume the defence of their Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ title on Friday when Masatada Ishii’s side face off against the Philippines in Manila’s Rizal Memorial Stadium with their sights set on a record-extending 11th appearance in the final.
The War Elephants have won the famous golden trophy on seven occasions – more than any other nation – and will take a perfect record from the group phase into their two-legged clash with Albert Capellas’ outfit.
The Thais picked up wins over Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Timor Leste to finish on top of Group A with maximum points, conceding four times but scoring 18 in a dominant display in the opening phase of the competition.
The pair first meet in the Philippines, where the hosts have drawn both of their matches so far in this year’s competition, before clashing at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium in the return fixture three days later.
The Philippines are looking to make an overdue debut in the final after four semi-final appearances, but to do so they will have to defeat Thailand for the first time. The Thais won the most recent encounter between the pair in the King’s Cup in Bangkok in October.
“We know we have quality, we’re still undefeated,” Philippines forward Bjorn Kristensen said after scoring the match-winning penalty against Indonesia that secured his side their semi-final berth. “We didn’t have the luck with us in the first three (group) games.
“We played good against Vietnam, the group leader, so we know we have quality. It’s just we have to get the potential out.
“Thailand is a good team and we met them before. We know they have some good players, good system, good coach, everything. So it’s going to be fun.”
Before that, former winners Singapore and Vietnam will go head-to-head in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore with both looking to claim an advantage ahead of the return in Viet Tri on Sunday.
Singapore are returning to the semi-finals having missed out on the knockout rounds in 2022 and will be looking to continue their quest for a fifth title, and the country’s first since 2012.
Tsutomu Ogura’s team secured their place in the last four with a 0-0 draw against Malaysia in their final Group A game, with that result sealing second in the standings behind Thailand.
Singapore defeated Cambodia and Timor Leste in the group phase while also losing 4-2 to Thailand, but only after squandering a two-goal lead given to them by early strikes from Shawal Anuar and Faris Ramli.
The Lions will be taking on a Vietnam side that dropped only two points in the opening phase on their way to topping Group B, Kim Sang-sik’s side winning three times as well as drawing 1-1 with the Philippines.
The Golden Star Warriors, looking to claim a third title after successes in 2008 and 2018, closed out their group stage commitments with a 5-0 thrashing of Myanmar, with debutant Nguyen Xuan Son scoring twice as the former champions completed a statement win.
The winners of both semi-finals will advance to the tournament decider, which will be played on a home-and-away basis with the first leg to be held on January 2 and the return three days later.
For more information about the Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ 2024 including the match schedule, kick-off times and broadcast listings please visit https://aseanutdfc.com/ and @aseanutdfc on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X.
