Thailand’s Natcha Promsomboon in action against Cambodia.
Hosts Thailand sealed the top spot in Group A and booked their place in the semi-finals of the AFF U23 Championship after a 2-0 victory over Cambodia on Monday night.
In the match at the Rayong Stadium, the Thais did just enough to score two goals in the second half for the win.
Thailand U23 coach Issara Sritaro told a post-match press conference: “We made some changes to our tactics as we were not smooth at the beginning, but after the first goal in the second half, everything started looking good. However, there are a few things that need adjustment and I hope we will do better in our next game.”
After beating Myanmar 3-0 in their first game and then Brunei by the same scoreline in their second encounter in the group, the Thais were in no real danger of making the cut to the next round.
With the experience of having played at the 2023 SEA Games, Thailand were in full control throughout the match as they restricted Cambodia to just a handful of opportunities in the first half.
The three substitutions after the breather injected Thailand with more sense of urgency and just four minutes in, they grabbed the lead when a header from Chukid Wanpraphao was pushed into goal by Cambodian defender Sam.
Having to play catch-up with the rain coming down hard was always going to be difficult for Cambodia, even though they came close with a Sin Sovannmakara’s 64th-minute effort.
But 10 minutes to the end, Thailand made sure of their third full points when a hard grounder from Nethithorn Kaewcharoen took a deflection into goal to beat Cambodian custodian Reth Ly Heng for the second time on the night.
“The passion and the effort against a team which on paper is much, much stronger than us is contagious. We will do better next time,” said Cambodia head coach Felix Dalmas.
Thailand U23 team will next play a team from either Group B or C in Thursday night’s semi-finals.
Meanwhile in a Thai League 1 match on Monday night, Chonburi played a goalless draw against Khon Kaen United.
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