AFC Cup
Chonburi 3-0 South China
Chonburi Stadium
Attendance: 6,500
Wednesday 16th March, 2011
Chonburi's 3-0 win against South China was hailed by the press. But what did the fans think? Here are the views of six people who were in the crowd on Wednesday 16th March, 2011.
"Chonburi played some beautiful football, keeping the ball on the floor and passing it around nicely. Therdsak was at the heart of Chonburi's attacking play. He made Nicky Butt look like a fool at times. The Chonburi defence made Kosin's job a lot easier. I don't remember him having to make 1 save. They defended well against South China's attacking play, especially Rakocevic who won every header."
Harry Webb
"Chonburi played like champions pressuring every player, going for every 50/50 tackle with everyone performing on top of their game. In my opinion the quick passing and moving of the front players is what won us the game. Therdsak, despite his age difference with most of the other players performed at a standard of a champion and gave 100% dedication for his team completing the 90 minutes."
Josh Hirst
"Nicky Butt the darling of English football (well some Manchester United and Newcastle fans) was patrolling the midfield of South China. He was, as usual, very one paced, lots of short lay offs and one great pass from left to right wing that eventually came to nothing. He appears to be enjoying his pay day at least. With him, was one Kezman - even more one paced than Butt, who offered nothing upfront against an inexperienced back four.
Chonburi were a delight going forward, lots of one touch football, and great movement off the ball, particularly down the right wing. Two players stood out : Therdsak who is even older than Butt, and Ekaphan, who was very mobile. Both ran rings around the illustrious pair and their teammates.
We had a good goal disallowed for offside on 13 minutes, after Ekaphan played right back in who squared it for the striker to be given offside when he was clearly behind the ball. The end result was 3-0, even after a bizarrely retaken penalty. I still don't know why?
The crowd was fantastic as usual. It is great to go to a game and be so postiive before, during and after a match."
Tim Spear
"Therdsak played a blinder. He lasted for ninety minutes and I can't remember him making one mistake. Ekaphan was tremendous again. Overall, it was a great night!"
Clarence Mansell
"Last night was without doubt one of the finest performances I have ever seen and I can only liken the atmosphere to that of the UEFA Cup Semi Final when Middlesbrough beat Steaua Bucharest.
Therdsak, once again, showed that he is not only the best player in Thailand, but the best player in South East Asia.
While it was great to see Ney Fabiano looking fitter and more aggressive, Pipob is undoubtedly the best target man in Thai football. Bryan Robson, get well soon and pick him. He is a leader and without doubt the best striker he can select."
Phil Larkin
"We were all hoping for a memorable night and the team did not disappoint and delivered a performance to be proud of. There was 100% commitment and a game plan based on passing through the midfield, then swept out to the wings and getting early balls into the penalty area.
Therdsak was the puppet master and if any newcomer wanted to identify the ex Manchester United and seasoned International they would have chosen the Chonburi number 13, as he was quite magnificent and one of his running dummies was worth the admission money alone
All the team responded to his prompting and everyone played to a level that I believe even surprised South China. With the stadium increasing in volume minute by minute and certainly completely rocking towards the end, the third goal threatened to bring this newly built and excellent stadium down
Hopefully more exhilarating AFC nights to come, just wonderful entertainment and a night to remain long in the memory."
Tim Banks
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