THAILAND 4:3 NEW ZEALAND

16 June 1999  FOUR NATIONS TOURNAMENT CELEBRATE HM. THE KING 72nd

Report by: Suphap Thantiraphant (Bangkok Post)

Thailand scraped past New Zealand 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the teams were level 2-2 at full time in the Four Nations International Soccer Tournament at Rajamangala National Stadium last night.

Hero of the hour was goalkeeper Virach Wangchan who came on as substitute in the dying seconds of the match to replace young keeper Pansa Meesatham who was making his debut for the national squad. 
Virach, normally first-choice keeper, went on to save two of the New Zealand spot kicks to win the match for Thailand, much to the delight of the 20,000-strong crowd. 

In an entertaining match, Thailand had also missed a penalty during regular time with only one minute to play when Choketawee Promrat hit the cross bar after Che Bunce was adjudged to have handled the ball.

New Zealand also had to play with 10 men for the last nine minutes after striker Vaughan Coveny was given a red card for elbowing Chukiat Nusalung.

Although Thailand had the best of the opening exchanges they failed to take their chances. In the 12th minute Tongchai should have put the hosts ahead after fine work by KopwitFoythong on the left but his shot went wide.

In the 27th minute Thailand lost central defender Patanapong Sripramote who was carried off after after a clash with Coveny, and he was replaced by Pranupong Chimpuk.

New Zealand always looked dangerous on breakaways and it was on one of these that they took the lead in the 44th minute when captain Chris Jackson beat keeper Pansa from the edge of the box with a well-taken goal.

Coach Peter Withe's half-time pep talk seemed to do the trick for Thailand who scored two goals in four minutes at the start of the second half, both through ace striker Kiatisak Senamuang. The first had a hint of offside about it before Kiatisak banged the ball home from close range. But there was no argument about Kiatisak's second strike four minutes later when he beat New Zealand keeper Michael Utting with a beautiful shot from 20 yards.

Thailand failed to press home the advantage however and let New Zealand back into the match when Jackson struck again in the 76th minute for his second goal of the game. 
Then came the drama of Thailand's missed penalty, but more significant was Withe making a switch of goal keepers as the penalty shootout became inevitable.
It turned out to be the right decision, with Virach saving the spot kicks from Gavin Wilkinson and Che Bunce while Thailand scored from all four attempts by Kiatisak , Choketawee, Krisada Piendit and Apisit Kaikaew.
After the match Withe said Thailand had not played as well as he had hoped but he was satisfied with getting the right result.
He said he had given Pansa his debut to give him experience, but with the penalty shootout approaching thought the more experienced Viruch should take over.
Withe praised the New Zealand squad for the effort they put into the game.
New Zealand coach Ken Dugdale complimented the Thai team on their natural ability and speed.
He said he thought the penalty decision was a bit harsh as the ball was not deliberately handled, but as the penalty was missed it did not alter the outcome of the match.
In last night's other match Brazil scored two early goals to earn a workmanlike 2-0 victory over Poland. On target for Brazil were Darcy Montero in the 12th minute and Andre Qulterio in the 18th. 

Thailand will now play Brazil in the final on Saturday afternoon while New Zealand and Poland will play for third place.