THAILAND gained a measure of revenge in stunning the Philippines 3-0 last Wednesday night in the semifinals of the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games women’s football tournament at the Cam Pha Stadium in Quáng Ninh province.
Silawan Intamee struck in the 21st minute, staking the Thais to a 1-0 lead at the break before teammates Taneekarn Dangda and Ploychompoo Somnonk added two more goals in advancing to the gold-medal clash with reigning titlist Vietnam, a 1-0 winner over Myanmar in the other semis play.
Thailand thus avenged its 0-1 loss to the Philippines in the group stage of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India last February that enabled the latter to advance to the semifinals and seal a historic ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year in Australia and New Zealand.
The Filipinas will play the Burmese for the bronze tomorrow at the same stadium.
“The result is the result, and Thailand was the better team and deserved to win,” said Australian head coach Alen Stajcic after the match. “The loss is part of the team’s journey and is a learning curve. We’re new at this level, we’ll get better, and we have no fear about that.”
