KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand remain a step ahead of Malaysia in futsal after winning 6-3 to finish top of Group B at the AFF Championship in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.
Although Thailand coach Jose Mendez claims Malaysia have shown significant improvement this year, the defending champions showed their prowess by leading 5-0 before Malaysia battled to make the score more respectable.
A tale of missed chances haunted Malaysia, who ran the Thais close at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August when the hosts lost 4-3 to finish with the silver medal behind champions Thailand.
Thailand and Malaysia were already assured of reaching the semi-finals before kickoff with qualification for the Asian Futsal Championship next year also secured, leaving just the group winners to be decided.
Muhammad Osamanmusa (11th and 15th minutes) and Ronnachai Jungwongsuk (12th) scored three times in the space of four minutes to put Thailand 3-0 up at the break before Nattavut Madyalan (25th) and Weerasak Srichai (27th) stretched the lead to five.
Khairul Effendy Bahrin scored twice for Malaysia in the 29th and 32nd minutes, either side of a reply by Warut Wangsama-aeo before Azwan Ismail reduced the deficit further in the 34th.
“The goals we conceded in the first half were all due to individual mistakes of marking. We also missed too many scoring chances which is another setback. For the first ten minutes, we performed well, but the last ten minutes allowed Thailand to score three goals in a short time due to loss of focus and marking,” said national coach Chiew Chun Yong.
“In the second half, the boys tried to make a comeback with a strong high-pressing game and managed to score three goals, but still conceded another three goals as well through counter attacks and set-pieces.
“In the last ten minutes, we even wasted at least three or four scoring opportunities that could have closed the gap, but all wasted due to poor finishing. Now I have a few days to prepare and amend the weaknesses before the semi-final game on Wednesday.”
Mendez was wary of facing Malaysia and glad to get the win which ensured they will meet the Group A runners-up in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
"We were playing against a team which has been making a lot of progress in the last few years. And while we may be here with a younger team, the players showed a lot of character to win this game," said Mendez.