Thailand’s national football team has already progressed to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup but they face a Vietnam team this Friday at Rajamangala Stadium, who still have everything to play for. Thailand sit top of Group A after beating the Philippines 2-1 and brushing aside Burma 4-1 in their first two games.
Thankfully this year’s AFF Suzuki Cup is not a repeat of the 2010 tournament, when Thailand failed to get past the group stages after drawing two matches and losing one.
The rejuvenated Thai team were touted as tournament favorites after a pre AFF Suzuki Cup run that saw them beat the Thai Premier League All-Stars 5-1, Laos 2-1, shock the reigning AFF Suzuki Cup champions Malaysia 2-0 and hit five goals past both Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Thailand’s striker Teerasil Dangda was the star player on Tuesday scoring a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Burma. Dangda scored 24 goals last season for Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United and he is reportedly being monitored by clubs in Turkey, England, Japan and South Korea.
Vietnam go into the match knowing that they still have a chance to qualify if they beat Thailand.
Second placed Philippines take on bottom of the table Burma in the other Group A match on Friday night at Supachalasai Stadium.
Malaysia banished the nightmares of their 3-0 opening game defeat to Singapore and got the defense of their AFF Suzuki Cup back on track on Wednesday by beating Laos 4-1. Indonesia moved to the top of Group B after beating Singapore 1-0 on Wednesday.
All teams still have a realistic chance of qualification going into the final games of group matches this weekend.
Fri 30 Nov Grp A Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok 2020hrs Philippines vs Myanmar
Fri 30 Nov Grp A Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok 2020hrs Thailand vs Vietnam
Sat 1 Dec Grp B Shah Alam Stadium, Kuala Lumpur 2045hrs Singapore vs Laos
Sat 1 Dec Grp B Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur 2045hrs Malaysia vs Indonesia
