Thailand is proving to be a force in Asian soccer. The Thai Under-20 team defeated Myanmar (Burma) 4-0 in Bangkok Sunday to win the first ever ASEAN Under-20 football competition.

The Thais completely dominated an overmatched Burma squad with dynamic offensive power and a swarming defense.

Thailand swept through the event undefeated with a 5-1-0 record. Their only blemish was a 1-1 draw with Myanmar last Saturday (January 26). Myanmar reached the final after defeating Laos 1-0 Friday.

The championship game was a complete turnaround from the previous match The Thai's came ready to play from the opening minute by asserting their aggressiveness.

Panai Kongpraphan lifted the ball over the charging Myanmar goal keeper in the sixth minute. In the 25th minute Kittipol Papunga scored a goal from outside the box.

Just before the break, Thailand were awarded a freekick and Satid Mukkratok scored improving the Thai lead to 3-0. In the 55th minute Datsakorn scored Thailand's final goal..

The Thais controlled the ball and attacked throughout the match. The Myanmar goalie had a rough day having to defend numerous shots on goal by the Thai's who deftly passed the ball to the open man displaying their unselfish play.

To reach the final the Thais defeated Vietnam 3-2 Friday. The match was not as close as the score indicates.

Thailand controlled the ball throughout the match. Their defense proved to be too much for the smaller Vietnam team.

The host team continually swarmed the visitors. Thailand was adept at taking the ball away and making swift attacks at the goal while showing superior foot speed and ball control skills.

Kongpraphan opened the scoring for Thailand. In the 21st minute when he did what he would duplicate in the championship contset. He masterfully lifted the ball up over the head of the fast approaching goalie just inside the top center of the box. Vietnam equalized by Nguyen Anh Cuong's goal just before the half.

Crystal Palace star Teerathep Winothai came on as a substitute for Thailand in the 69th minute. He immediately showed what his talents were all about when he was in the right place at the right time.

Teerathep took a free-kick as he was standing close in just to the right side of the goal, from Ekaphan Inthasen and expertly headed the ball into the net for a 2-1 Thai lead.

Ekaphan followed that up minutes later with a smashing shot from 25-yards out giving the Thais a commanding 3-1 lead. Vietnam answered in the 85th minute on a free kick from Pham Van Quyen that resulted in the final 3-2 tally.

Laos and Vietnam played for third place in a rematch Sunday. The previous Saturday Laos upset the Vietnamese 1-0 in a hotly contested first round match in Phnom Penh.

After that game Laos coach Vangchay Mouabgmany had a sly grin on his face as if he knew what very few believed... that his charges were capable of defeating their arch rivals.

In the rematch Laos scored two goals in the first 12 minutes and defeated Vietnam 2-1. Laos scored the first goal just six minutes into the contest.

Laos was the big surprise in the first round going undefeated. The Laos team were aggressive and played tough defense. They scored eight goals and gave up only two in four matches.

FAN SUPPORT: Almost every match had an overflow crowd in Phnom Penh's 7,000 seat Old Stadium. Many fans stood at the ends of the field where there were no seats.

There was no specific count of those in attendance. The surprise was that so many fans showed up for the under-20 matches and paid a 2-3000 riel entrance fee (50-75 cents).

When the national team played World Cup Qualifying matches against China, Indonesia and Maldives in April and May, there was no entrance free. When you consider that China qualified for the World Cup the fan support to pay to see Under-20 competition was surprising.

Many college students attended the games that were played at 2 and 4pm. The stadium is without a lighting system and darkness falls around 6pm.

The Vietnamese fans were the most passionate giving their team tremendous vocal support and wearing Vietnam's red and yellow colors and waving Vietnam flags.

Vietnam striker Pham Van Quyen was a standout throughout the tournament. Quyen scored five of his team 13 goals in the first round in Phnom Penh. He scored another goal against Thailand in the semifinal match.

Cambodian national team coach Joachim Fickert was in attendance for the Cambodian team matches looking for prospects for the national squad.

Fickert noted that there is a statistic that it takes Asian teams (Japan and Korea excepted) 7-8 shots on goal to score. It takes European Premier and 1st Division teams only three.

CAMBODIA short listed themselves on team strength. The Khmers were unaware that it was within the rules for this competition to have players on the squad that were on the SEA Games squad.

The past SEA Games competition was the first time only 23-year-old and under players could compete.

Five players were eligible that were members of the Cambodian SEA Games squad. Cambodia was winless in the U-20 competition posting only a 1-1 draw with Brunei.

Thailand had the most explosive offense in the tournament scoring 23 goals and giving up only six in the six matches.

Their competitive spirit was questioned. Being a rich country it was felt they would be soft competition...they proved their detractors wrong.

They drew 1-1 with Cambodia in their first match. The second match they fought Laos tough but succumbed 1-0. In their third contest they were drubbed by Vietnam 4-0 then rebounded with a 1-0 win over the Philippines in their finale.

Korean Yoong Joon Choi, Brunei's coach said he was pleased with his teams effort.

Final Group B standings - related story: Laos - Vietnam Qualify

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