THAILAND 13:1 SINGAPORE

TIGER 5's TOURNAMENT SINGAPORE BOWL FINAL 02/12/2001 20:00 TST.

Report by: ESPN STAR SPORT

Scorers: Polsak (THA) 3', Munjarern (THA) 4', Polsak (THA) 4', Polsak (THA) 11', Nahar (SIN) 12', Phungphook (THA) 15, Munjarern (THA) 16', Phungphook (THA) 17', Polsak (THA) 25', Chaiman (THA) 30', Seekalw (THA) 31', Munjarern (THA) 38', Tong-In (THA) 39', Kleawkla (THA) 40'

Tiger 5s Bowl Champion: Thailand

Singapore dreams about receiving the Tiger 5s Bowl were dashed in a Thai goal frenzy at today's final. Thailand was the champion of this year's inaugural ASEAN futsal competition where it beat Singapore 10-1 in group play and 12-1 in the final, and today the Southeast Asian power repeated its run of terror by hammering the Lions 13-1.

Thai captain Yuttana Polsak was the beneficiary of his team's overwhelming force, bagging a hat-trick by the 11th minute. His third was a real work of art: on the break, Khongkaew took a cheeky back-heel from Chaiman, and was fouled: Brazilian referee Macedo signaled for play to continue, and the fortunately positioned Polsak stuck the resulting loose ball in the back of the Singapore goal.

Key in today's Thai lineup was midfield wonder Anucha Munjarern, still just a student but a brilliant technician and physically powerful on and off the ball. He had working behind him Tanasit Tong-In, Thailand's man in the back who let by nothing, and flamboyant goalkeeper Somkid Chuenta, whose national color-dyed top-knot takes attention away from his impressive cat-like moves and speed off the line. To his credit, Chuenta drew shrieks of delight from the sold-out Indoor Stadium crowd by once running the ball all the way to the Singapore "D" and drawing a yellow-card foul.

In the face of these Thai stars, the tireless efforts of Lions stalwarts Rudy Khairon, Noor Ali, and Azhar Salleh went without reward - until the 12th minute, when substitute Nahar Daud, finding himself unmarked in the Thai "D," cracked into the roof of the goal a timely pass provided by Azhar.

And this was all the Lions could get onto the scoresheet, as Thailand continued with the goals fast and furious until literally the last minute of the match, when second-string goalkeeper Wirak Sanae-Ha stepped up to unsuccessfully take a "double PK" that did yield a penalty kick. Little seen substitute Surachai Kleawkla made no mistake in putting the opportunity away, thus giving Thailand the Tiger 5s Bowl and an even bigger win than the ASEAN Futsal Championship final.

Singapore captain Rudy Kharion was disappointed by the scoreline but said that "The Singapore team is a better team this year and we played beyond our expectations."

The elated Thai coach, Bongkarn Phrompui, attributed the team's success over Singapore to the fact that "they have played together for a longer time as a team compared to Singapore." He added that "Thailand would definitely look into developing futsal internationally. In fact, a nationwide futsal tournament will be held in Thailand next year and there are plans in the future for a futsal league in Thailand."