A look ahead to this week's games
Submitted by Nick Measures on Fri, 2011-11-25 11:52All matches kick off at 6pm unless stated
All matches kick off at 6pm unless stated
Unsurprisingly, considering the sheer scale of the recent disaster, the floods have had a major affect on many clubs around Bangkok and Pathum Thani as you can see from this dramatic photo. Two of the worst-affected stadiums are Thupatemi (pictured here), home of Air Force United and JW Rangsit and Thammasat Stadium, where Police United play. Both pitches and the surrounding areas are still completely underwater forcing the clubs to temporarily move home to play their games.
All matches start at 6pm unless stated otherwise.
As reported earlier this week, the Thai National Team’s hopes of making it through to the final group stage of 2014 World Cup Qualifying suffered hammer blows in the past seven days as they lost 3-0 to Saudi Arabia last Fridayand were then unlucky to go down
National team coach Winnie Schaefer will be hoping his side can put a smile back on the face of a beleaguered country as the World Cup Qualifiers recommence. Back-to-back games against two giants of Asian football – Saudi Arabia and Australia – will go a long way to deciding whether the Thais are heading for the final group qualifying stage or not.
The national team are back in action tonight with the nation’s football fans still buzzing and full of hope after the 3-0 demolition of Oman. Frank Rijkaard’s Saudi Arabia are the visitors to the Rajamangala Stadium, and this is another fixture that Thailand must look to take maximum points from with away dates in Oman and Saudi yet to come. The Green Eagles were held to a 0-0 draw in Oman in their opening game and lost 3-1 at home to Australia a few days later. Thailand, of course, narrowly lost 2-1 in Australia but then bounced back with that surprisingly comfortable win over Oman.
Thai Port’s financial problems have resurfaced yet again, just as the club is preparing for the League Cup Final against Buriram PEA. In early May we reported on the ownership dispute and financial problems plaguing the club.
All games at 6pm unless otherwise stated.
Both Thai participants exited the AFC Cup this week, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Muangthong United, who lost 1-0 despite dominating the first leg of their quarter-final against Kuwait SC, were hopeful that they could turn the tie around at the Yamaha Stadium on Tuesday night. The Qilins were generally the better side again, though they struggled to create many good chances as the Kuwaitis put in a solid defensive display. The main talking point came in injury-time as the referee initially awarded a penalty to Muangthong only to change his mind after talking to the linesman.
Having just recently moved back to their ‘home’ ground– the Thai Japanese Stadium in Din Daeng – Bangkok United are already musing over a move back to the tiny out-of-town Bangkok University ‘Stadium’. The reason for this apparently illogical move? Good old Thai superstition, of course!