Thailand 0-1 Australia: 2011

THAILAND 0-1 AUSTRALIA: SHARK WATCH

16th November, 2011

Four Chonburi players featured in a disappointing World Cup qualifier defeat against Australia in November, 2011. Here's how they performed:

Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool: Another solid game for the keeper, who seems to have established himself as Winnie’s first choice. He made a couple of good saves in the first half and was very confident when coming for, and collecting, crosses. His distribution was also better. There wasn’t much he could have done to prevent the goal and overall can be pleased with his night’s work. Whatever coaching he is receiving when with the national team is obviously paying off.

Chonlatit Jantakam: A steady performance at right back. Chon was his usual tough tackling self and relished playing against the more robust Australians. He seemed to get forward a lot more than usual as an overlapping full back and even attempted a couple of stepovers when in attacking positions. Such audacity! He was lucky not to get booked near the end after he retaliated to a tackle. I can only think that the ref mustn’t have seen it, otherwise it would have been a definite yellow.

Suree Sukha: Looked good going forward as an old fashioned right winger and put in an energetic performance for the entire ninety minutes. Linked up well with the rest of the midfield and made some intelligent runs into space. Unfortunately, Suree missed a golden opportunity to put Thailand in front midway through the first half, when he blazed over from close range after getting himself into a good position.

Pipob On-Mo: Seventeen minutes! That’s all he got, right at the end of the match when Thailand were already behind. However, he showed more industry and commitment in that short space of time than Kirati had done in the previous seventy three. His first touch within seconds of coming on was a clever ball out to the right wing and his second was a header that fizzed just over from the resultant cross. Mo looked lively, always wanting the ball and I’m convinced he would have been a real thorn in Australian sides had been on from the start.