THAIS AND VIETNAM ON A ROLL

Thailand, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Iraq in their first game in Group A, made sure of the three points this time round when they outclassed Oman 2-0 at the Stadium Rajamangala.

Following a first-half deadlock, the substitutions for the wily Pipat Thonkanya gave Thailand the edge when he combined well with the precocious Teerathep Winothai to score both goals for Thailand.

Pipat’s first goal came in the 70th minute before adding the second eight minutes later to give Thailand their first real glimpse of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 1972.

“Both of them did a very good job,” said Chanvit, who led Thailand to the runners-up spot of the Asean Football Championship earlier in the year.

“It was a very tough game as both teams needed the three points. We have four points and we have a great chance to progress to the second round.”

For Vietnam, they just could not muster the drive to emulate their fabulous 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates in the first of Group B when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar in their second match.

Phan Thanh Binh had the bumbling Qatari keeper Mohamed Saqr to thank for giving Vietnam the lead in the 32nd minute before Uruguayan-born Sebastian Quintana netted the equaliser in the 79th minute.

However the one point was enough to ensure that Vietnam remained on top of Group B with four points – two points ahead of Qatar – with a decisive game against Japan still to come.

“I think we got a lucky result, but sometimes people who are fighting hard get a good result in football,” said Riedl.

“Qatar, especially in the last 20 to 25 minutes, were clearly the better team. They created a lot of chances and hit the crossbar and also struck the post as we faced some difficult situations in our area, so I am very happy with the result.”

Asean two other representatives Indonesia and Malaysia will play Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan respectively tomorrow.

PIC: THAILAND AGAINST OMAN