LAOS HOLD THAIS TO END 35-YEAR LOSING STREAK

Laos stunned the Thais just before the hour mark when Konekham Inthammavong’s somewhat odd header bounce off the ground and over the keeper into goal. Sarayoot Chaikamdee smashed in the equaliser in the 67th minute before Kanyala Sysomvang restored the lead in the 84th minute. With time up, Sarayoot charged through and slipped in the equaliser to the relief of his bench.

“We have been playing Thailand for 35 years and we have never recorded a win or a draw. This is a special day for us,” a delighted Pasatxay Philaphandeth, the Laos team manager said.

“To be in a position to win today (against Thailand) was beyond anybody’s expectations. We have worked very hard over the last few months to get to this level,” said coach David Booth, who took over the team about four months ago.

Thailand were expected to take charge of the match and probably go on to collect full points today. But all did not go as planned for coach Bryan Robson. The Thai side, led by skipper Terdsak Chaiman, began without a few key players, which may have explained the team’s sputtering start.

Thailand had several shots at goal, with the closest in the first half being Terdsak’s strike that came off the post. After the break, a quick counter move saw the Thais racing back to defend their goal but Konekham quickly made his way into the box and nodded his side ahead.

Robson was about to make three changes when Sarayoot snatched the equaliser. Robson went ahead with the changes bringing in the talented Datsakorn Thonglao, striker Teerasil Dangda and Naruphol Ar-romsawa but they still ended up going behind again. Kanyala made his way to the top and unleashed a superb dipping shot that the Thai keeper could not reach.

And with time up and Laos on the verge of scoring a historic win, Sarayoot came to the rescue to deny Laos a dream finish.

“I had said before that this would not be an easy game, I warned the players after watching Laos and Philippines in action in the qualifiers to not take these teams lightly. We had two good chances in the first 15 minutes and the boys were guilty of not scoring. If the goals had gone in, it could have been different.”

Robson commended Laos and said they defended well and hit them on the counter. “Overall the game was disappointing for me. The players looked tired like they just finished a long season and not prepared, it was a sluggish performance. Still, the boys showed good character to come back twice.”