Asian Football Confederation
November 21

Thailand 4 (Manit Noyvach 38, Nirut Surasiang 56, Piyawat Tongmaen 78, Sarayoot Chaikamdee 81) - Uzbekistan 1 (Leonid Koshelev 88)

Tajikistan 1 (Dzhomikhon Muhidinov 68) - Hong Kong 0

Thailand completed an amazing comeback last night (Friday) to secure a spot in their fourth straight Asian Cup finals with a sizzling 4-1 victory over already-qualified Uzbekistan in Bangkok.

The talented Thai team arrived back from their opening three Group A matches in Tashkent without a point but a 4-0 win over Hong Kong, a slender 1-0 victory against Tajikistan and last night's triumph over Uzbekistan saw them take all nine points at home.

Tajikistan beat Hong Kong 1-0 in the other match played last night to finish a point adrift of Thailand. Two Hong Kong players and one from Tajikistan were sent off in the second half.

A crowd of more than 25,000 at the Rajamangala Stadium gave Thailand a thunderous ovation at the end of 90 minutes after seeing their favourites turn in one of their best performances of recent times.

The victory came as a huge relief for Thai coach Carlos Roberto Carvalho, who took over from ex-England international Peter Withe ahead of the games in Tashkent.

The Brazilian had been under fire after the team drew a blank in Tashkent but he remained optimistic that Thailand would resurrect their campaign at home in the heat of Bangkok.

"This achievement will stay in my heart, it is indelible," he said. "We turned nothing into qualification. The boys had to win every game to qualify and that is what they did - it is fantastic.

"They have grown in confidence since the win over Hong Kong on Monday. Tonight they showed a lot of passion as well as a lot of patience. They controlled the game and did not give the ball away easily or make mistakes."

Young midfielder Datsakorn Thonglao, who plays for AFC Champions League finalists BEC Tero Sasana, was hugely influential in the win as were club teammates Dusit Chalermsan and Therdsak Chaiman.

The Uzbekistan side, who sealed their spot in next year's Asian Cup with a win over Hong Kong on Wednesday, were competitive throughout but the high tempo of the match and the sweltering heat of Bangkok caused several of their players to sag in the second half.

Thailand made one change from the team which beat Tajikistan 1-0, Sakda Joemdee coming in for suspended midfielder Issawa Singthong while Uzbekistan had Aleksey Polyakov in goal for Evgene Safanov.

The Thais chased the game from the opening period and striker Pitipong Kuldilog had the ball in the net after just five minutes but he was ruled offside.

The lively Datsakorn came close twice within a minute. In the 11th minute Polyakov pushed his shot away for a corner and then Datsakorn watched open mouthed as another long range effort flashed narrowly past the right upright.

Pitipong should have opened the scoring in the 26th minute but in a replay of an incident against Tajikistan he completely miskicked with the goal at his mercy.

Therdsak Chaiman, a nominee for this season's AFC Player of the Year Award, was instrumental in the opener after 38 minutes.

He cut in from the right and unleashed a fierce left foot shot which Polyakov deflected into the path of Manit Noyvach who found the net. The all important second goal in the 56th minute was the result of a bad goalkeeping error.

Polyakov looked to have a half hit shot from Nirut Surasiang covered but it slipped under his body and into the net. Substitute Piyawat Tongmaen scored the third in the 78th minute after a great run and pass from Dusit. Sarayoot Chaikamdee, another second half substitute, grabbed a fourth in the 81st minute after Piyawat had burst clear.

Uzbekistan scored a consolation goal in the 88th minute, Leonid Koshelev thundering a left foot shot high into the net from 35 yards out.

In the other match, Tajikistan secured their win with a second half strike from Dzhomikhon Muhidinov. Tajikistan's Numordzhon Hakimov was sent off in the 50th minute and was followed by Chan Ho-man of Hong Kong in the 83rd and Law Chung-bung in the 88th.

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