Danes hand Thais a football lesson

[SOCCER] Thailand's Pre-Olympic side succumbed to a morale-sapping 3-1 defeat at the hands of Denmark in a friendly in front of a sparse crowd at the Royal Thai Army stadium yesterday.

It was yet another case of possession counting for nothing as Prapol Pongpanich's side, which dictated the pace throughout the game, was taught a harsh lesson by the Danish preparing for the Uefa's Under-21 Championships next year. They made the most of the handful of chances to seal an emphatic win.

The lacklustre performance meant that Prapol has much work to do ahead of the first-leg away match against Turkmenistan in the preliminary qualifying round, which will be held on February 7.

The nature of a friendly might have accounted for the slow start to the game, which saw both teams creating little chances in the dull opening exchanges.

The home side got their first sight on the goal in the sixth minute, when star striker Teeratep Winothai received the ball on the edge of the penalty area before squaring it to Apipo Suntornpanavej, who strode into the area on the left before dispatching his shot harmlessly over the bar. Then the game turned into another uneventful spell. Even the loud noise of a drum from a small group of Danish fans did little to raise the tempo of the match.

When the game became more interesting, it was the visitors who took the lead, in the 17th minute - the goal coming from their first meaningful effort.

From a throw-in on the right, Jens Gjesing took a Patrick Kristensen flick-on before lashing a vicious shot into the back of the net.

Thailand responded seconds later after a nice build-up on the left resulted in another Apipo attempt, which fizzled agonisingly over the crossbar.

Despite enjoying the bulk of possession, the Kingdom were unfortunate to find themselves two goals down due to a goalkeeper' howler.

Chalermkiat Sombatpan tried to clear the danger only to succeed in parrying a dangerous cross from the right into the path of Soren Christensen, who fired home into the empty net.

The hosts had a golden opportunity to cling their way back into the match on stroke of half-time after slick passing in front of the area put Teeratep in a promising position - but the young forward sent his shot straight at the goalie.

After the interval, Thailand came up with more determination. They got a lifeline when substitute Teerasil Dangda, who came in at half-time, slid in at the far post to turn in a Jakkaphan Kaewprom left-side free-kick.

However, any hopes of a comeback were shattered five minutes from time when FC Copenhagen striker Lasse Qvist capitalised on an error in Thai defence to wrap up a convincing win.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation Thailand
Saturday January 27, 2007