Supachok Sarachat redeemed himself from his costly penalty miss in the King’s Cup semifinal on Thursday as he scored the winning goal for Thailand as they edged out Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 on Sunday’s third place match. On the same day, Tajikistan managed to beat Malaysia in penalties to win their first King’s Cup title.
Hosts Thailand had to contend for the third place match following their penalty shootout defeat at the hands of ASEAN rivals Malaysia on Thursday, with Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo man Supachok missing the decisive spot kick. Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago, who were the highest ranked side participating in this year’s King’s Cup based on the latest FIFA rankings, were stunned 2-1 by Tajikistan in Thursday’s early kick-off.
With team manager Nualphan Lamsan announcing a two million baht reward for Thailand should they clinch bronze at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Thailand, the Changsuek were motivated from the get-go and took the lead in the 21st minute. Trinidad goalkeeper Marvin Phillip could only deflect a Suphanat Mueanta effort onto the path of Channarong Promsikaew, who had no problem lashing the ball into Phillip’s goal – the Chonburi FC midfielder’s first ever international goal.
Thailand custodian Kittipong Phootawchuek managed to deny Levi Garcia shortly after Channarong’s opener, before Thailand came close to increasing their lead through two efforts from Suphanat, with Phillip saving the Buriram United youngster’s first before Suphanat’s second effort was fired way over the bar.
The second half saw Trinidad and Tobago pushing hard for an equalizer, bombarding the Thai defense as they did so. The Soca Warriors’ efforts were paid off in the 61st minute. A Kareem Moses header after a corner was inadvertantly deflected into Kittipong’s goal by Kritsada Kaman, giving Trinidad and Tobago a fighting chance in this match.
However, said chance was snuffed out in the 72nd minute, after Channarong set up Supachok for a spectacular curler that left Phillip utterly powerless – the perfect redemption for the winger.
Tajiks Made Malaysia Pay the Penalty
Sunday’s late kick-off saw Malaysia taking on Tajikistan for this year’s King’s Cup title, with the Harimau Malaya gunning for their first title in the competition since 1978, while Tajikistan are aiming for their very first King’s Cup title in their debut in the competition.
Despite Tajikistan dominating proceedings since kick-off, it was Malaysia who carved out the first chance of the game in the 10th minute, with Akhyar Rashid firing from range only for the shot to be saved by Tajik goalie Rustam Yatimov.
As rain began to pour over Chiangmai, Malaysia started to found their rhythm and mounted several challenges at the Tajikistan defense. Brendan Gan saw his header sailing over the bar in the 23rd minute, before the first half ended in farcical circumstances after Mohamadou Sumareh did not react well to being given a yellow card by the referee following a foul on Tabrez Islomov.
The incident, coupled with a close call after Sumareh had landed a bad tackle on Ehsoni Panshanbe led to Malaysia head coach Kim Pan-Gon to replace the Gambia-born winger with Faisal Halim.
Safawi Rasid drew Malaysia’s best chance of the second half with a curler that was saved by Yatimov in the 57th minute, before Tajikistan threatened twice through Muhammadjon Rahimov in the 68th minute and substitute Rustam Soirov scoring a disallowed goal in the 84th minute.
With the match still deadlocked at 0-0 after 90 minutes, the contest was then decided on penalties. Unfortunately for Malaysia, all three of their penalty takers – Dion Cools, Nazmi Faiz, and Safawi – failed miserably with their efforts, with Yatimov saving penalties from both Dion and Nazmi before Sawafi rattled his crossbar with his attempt.
Tajikistan, on the other hand, were almost perfect with their penalties as three of their four takers – Vakhdat Khanonov, Komron Tursunov, and Soirov – were successful with their attempts, with only initial taker Akhtam Nazarov failing with his spot kick. And it was Soirov’s decisive penalty that settled the tie and won the 2022 King’s Cup title for Tajikistan.