NAYPYITAW (21 Dec 2013) – Thailand completed a clean sweep of all four gold medals when they claimed the prized men’s SEA Games football gold medal after beating Indonesia 1-0 in the final at the Zayar Thiri Stadium in Napyitaw tonight.
The Thais, who had yesterday bagged the men’s and women’s futsal and women’s football gold medals, regained the prestigious men’s football title after a six-year wait.
The victory today was also Thailand’s 14th men’s football SEA Games gold since the event was first held in 1959.
Tonight’s match, a repeat of the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games final which Thailand won, saw Sarawut Masuk scored the opener in the 22nd minute.
Thailand had the first shot of the final in the ninth minute. After settling down, their strikers went to work and made their way up. Pokklaw Anan slammed low to the right corner but Kurnia Meiga managed to palm it away.
Indonesia got their first crack a few minutes later but Rizki Ramdani’s attempt sailed straight to Thai keeper Kawin Thamsatchanan.
After another miss in the 19th minute when Adisak Kraisorn saw his shot saved, Thailand finally broke through to take the lead three minutes later.
Sarawut took advantage of some poor defending to surge forward. As Kurnia rushed out to stop Sarawut, the Thai player coolly tipped over the goalkeeper.
The second half had playes from both sides trying to score. Indonesia had several chances but none as good as their attempt in the 90th minute. Yohanes Ferinando, from just inside the box, whipped his shot at the goal but too his dismay it went just over the bar.
The Thais too had a few attemptes but nothing that really threatened their opponents. The one goal proved to be enough in the end for Thailand to leave tonight as the newly-crowned champions.
