Thais to face Syria in King’s Cup final

A Suphanat Mueanta brace helped hosts Thailand defeat the Philippines 3-1 on Friday night and set up a showdown with Syria for the King’s Cup title at Tinsulanonda Stadium in Songkhla.
A lone goal by Mohammed Osman in the 34th minute proved enough for Syria to edge Tajikistan in the first match of the day.
Monday’s final between the War Elephants and Syria will kick off at 8pm and the third-place playoff between Tajikistan and Philippines will start at 4.30pm. Both matches will be broadcast live on Thai Rath TV (32).
Captain Chanathip Songkrasin’s opening goal in the 53rd minute was equalised by Bjorn Martin Kristensen nine minutes later, but then Suphanat, who plays for OH Leuven in Belgium, struck twice for the home team to secure their place in the tournament final.
The Philippines captain Amani Aguinaldo paid the price for a rough tackle on Thai striker Poramet Arjvilai and was red-carded by the match referee after a VAR consultation in the 75th minute.
Thailand coach Masatada Ishii said he was glad that he got “the result I wanted”.
“The most impressive thing for me was the presence of a very large number of Thai fans at the venue despite a heavy downpour,” said the Japanese coach.
“It was a difficult game for us because the Philippines pressured us with their attacking game and given the weather, I think my players did a pretty good job tonight.”
Ishii had started with a new attacking line-up but resorted back to his trusted lieutenants after the break and the change worked.
“I explained to the players during the interval there were several things that needed improvement, and decided to change the combination up front. It’s a good result for us.
“I watched parts of Syria’s game today [Friday]. They are very good at attacking, but I already have a plan in my mind to counter this in the final.”
The Philippines coach Albert Capellas said: “Actually, we hadn’t prepared the team for conditions [heavy rain] like these. With the weather and pitch condition being different from what we had expected, the result hasn’t come as a surprise to me.
“I am pleased with the first 20 minutes. We played a close game with the Thais and both teams had the opportunities to score. But after the rain came down everything was left to chance.”