MEDIA RELEASE
THAILAND BREEZES PAST CHINA FOR FIRST THREE POINTS
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| China's Li Jian (No.5 in white) in a tussle for the ball against Thailand's Panomkorn Saisorn (No. 6 in yellow). |
"It was a little taxing since we just played last night but the players kept to the tactics, and that was to control the ball and play a patient game," said Pattaya Piemkum, the head coach of Thailand.
"We will be playing matches everyday so it is important that the team play to instructions and not suffer any injuries. After the win today, we will have to play Brazil next and we have to be well-prepared," he added.
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| Thailand's Natthapon Suttiroj (No.3 in yellow) reels away after scoring the fifth and final goal. |
Ekapong Suratsawang opened his team's account with two quick strikes in the fourth and fifth minute, before his twin brother Ekaphan chalked his name on the score sheet two minutes later.
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| China's Liang Shuang (No.2 in white) against Thailand's Keattiyot Chalaemkhet (No.14 in yellow). |
Sermphan Khumthinkaew and Nattaphon Suttiroj then completed the rout with two more goals in the tenth and 11th minute for Thailand to lead comfortably in front.
The second half saw the Thais stepping off the pedal somewhat, to allow China to score their first goal of the tournament off Zhang Xi in the 35th minute.
"I am not at all disappointed with the score line because of the disparity between the two teams. But I thought that the first half, we did not play well as we could. We gave away easy counter-attacks and for a team like Thailand, they will capitalise on it. We have learnt a lot in these two games and the players can only improve from this experience," said Farinha, the head coach for China.
TODAY’S FIXTURES (30 Jan, 2008)
| 10am: China vs Thailand | 1-5 |
| 3pm: England vs Indonesia | |
| 5pm: Argentina vs Malaysia | (LIVE on STAR Sports) |
| 7pm: Iran vs Brazil | (LIVE on STAR Sports) |
| 9pm: Holland vs China |
CURRENT STANDINGS
| Group A | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| ARGENTINA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 3 |
| AUSTRALIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| MALAYSIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| INDONESIA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| ENGLAND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Group B | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
| THAILAND | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| BRAZIL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| HOLLAND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| CHINA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| IRAN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
About the KL World 5's
The KL World 5’s takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia’s first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.
The KL World 5’s will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.
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