Asia Cup 2007: 02/05/07

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Chanvit set to leave Thailand

BANGKOK - Thailand's disappointment at finishing runners-up to Singapore in the final of the Asean Football Championship has been compounded by the likelihood that head coach Chanvit Polchovin will leave the 2007 AFC Asian Cup co-hosts.

The former Asian Coach of the Year – who steered Thai Farmers Bank to back-to-back Asian Club Championship titles in the mid-Nineties – has been approached by Vietnamese league side Dong Thap and Sunday’s defeat at the hands of the Singaporeans may be his last in charge of the national side.

"I have yet to see the final contract and there may be some small things that I might not agree with,” Chanvit said after a 1-1 draw in Bangkok handed Singapore a 3-2 aggregate win. “But if the contract looks good, I will go.”

Chanvit took over as national team coach in early 2005 from Germany’s Sigfried Held and, should he leave for Vietnam the Thais would be looking for a replacement with less than six months to go before the finals of the AFC Asian Cup

"It is his own decision but if he does leave then we will just have to replace him," said Thailand team manager Thavatchai Sajakul. “There are a lot of factors, for a start we don’t know how much he will be paid.”

Meanwhile Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic hailed the stunning strike from substitute Khairul Amri which earned the Lions the draw and the trophy as well as taking the Serb's unbeaten run in the tournament to 15 matches.

"Amri scored a beautiful goal," Avramovic said of the swerving strike. “The goal was one of the best I have seen and one deserving to win the final of a championship."

The Young Lions forward, who came on for Nigeria-born winger Itimi Dickson 10 minutes into the second half, levelled the absorbing match on the night, cancelling out a 37th minute goal from Pipat Thonkanya which saw the Thais make the aggregate score 2-2 after losing 2-1 in the first leg in Singapore.

"The finalists were the two best teams in South East Asia and I think it was a very good game," continued Avramovic. "In the first half the Thais were really trying to make a difference and pushed players forward trying to win the game.

"We coped well until they scored and then we struggled, although we came out in the second half looking for the goal and missed a few opportunities."

Despite leading Singapore to their second successive Asean Football Championship title - the island republic's third in total following victory in 1998 - Avramovic felt the task could have been completed less stressfully had Indonesian referee Jimmy Napitupulu not ruled out an eighth minute effort from Shahril Ishak.

"We had an early goal disallowed and it was 100 per cent not offside," said the former Notts County keeper, who was full of praise after his team insured the trophy returned to the Lion city.

"I have to congratulate all the boys as they played fantastic," he said.

"We needed to score a goal tonight and we did it. I said to the players before the competition that it is a lot harder to keep the title than to win it but we did it."

Monday, February 05, 2007 at 8:22 PM

Singapore down Thais in Asean final

BANGKOK - Singapore successfully defended their Asean Football Championship crown as substitute Khairul Amri struck a late goal to give the Lions a 3-2 aggregate win following their 1-1 draw with Thailand in the second leg of the final on Sunday.

Singapore went into the match at the Supachalasai Stadium leading 2-1 on aggregate but their advantage was cancelled out in the 37th minute when Pipat Thonkanya levelled the tie.

However, Thailand's hopes of a fourth Asean Football Championship title were snuffed out with nine minutes left in a hugely entertaining final when Khairul Amri's shot from just inside the box flew past goalkeeper Kittisak Rawangpa, who was wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Kiatisuk Senamuang.

Singapore looked to have extended their advantage when Sharil Ishak prodded the ball into the Thailand net from close range with just eight minutes on the clock.

However, Indonesian referee Jimmy Napitupulu ruled out the effort as the striker and tournament MVP and top scorer Noh Alam Shah were deemed to be in an offside position.

Fahrudin Mustafic, scorer of the controversial penalty that gave the Lions the first leg victory and the recipient of the loudest boos when the home fans jeered the announcement of the Singapore players, became the first to go into the Indonesian referee's book for a crunching tackle on Pichitphong Choechiu in the 14th minute, just 60 seconds after the same player - one of three changes to the Thai starting 11 - had Thailand's first real effort on goal.

Datsakorn Thonglao stepped up to take a 17th minute free-kick from a similar range to the one he scored against Vietnam in the semi-final and while the midfielder struck it with similar aplomb, Singapore keeper Lionel Lewis was equal to the task and flew across the goal line to keep the ball out.

Lewis, MVP at the last edition of the tournament, denied the Thais again six minutes later with an equally impressive save following a powerful shot from Pipat Thonkanya.

However, the Singapore keeper could do nothing when the BEC Tero Sasana striker opened the scoring with eight minutes of the first half remaining.

Datsakorn, who is set to move from BEC Tero Sasana to Vietnamese side Hoang Anh Gia Lai, played a delicate chip over the Singapore back line and in to the path of his former team-mate, who poked the ball past Lewis to level the tie on aggregate.

The Thais sniffed blood and laid siege on the Singapore goal in the second half, with the defending champions needing a last-ditch block from Noh Rahman to prevent Suchao Nutnum from putting the home side two up.

But Singapore remained firm, with their defending both stubborn and scattergun, and caught the Thais with their goal on the counter-attack, their only real chance of the half outside of a tamely hit scissors kick from Alam Shah 18 minutes after the interval.

at 12:17 PM