Reigning champions Thailand, aiming to win an unprecedented third title in a row, made their intentions clear on Sunday night when they began their Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 campaign with a 10-0 hammering of Timor Leste at Hang Day Stadium.
A devastating display saw the War Elephants hold a 4-0 half-time lead with goals from Benjamin Davis, who got his side up and running just three minutes after the start, Patrik Gustavsson, Suphanat Mueanta and another from Davis.
The Thais didn't take long to add to their tally in the second half. Suphanat made it 5-0, Seksan Ratree, with a brace, delivered the sixth and seventh before Teerasak Poeiphimai made it eight.
Two more goals were added before second half stoppage time through Teerasak and Nicholas Mickelson.
Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii told a post-match press conference his team had done their homework for the match.
"Every player after scoring a goal tried to collect the ball to start over again. I didn't focus on breaking the record whether we win by one goal or 10 goals, we still earn three points," said the Japanese coach.
The 10-0 win for Thailand over Timor Leste is a new record for the War Elephants in this tournament.
"We don't know much about the past statistics here. The players are doing well because everyone is determined to score goals all the time.
"Benjamin Davis has not been thoroughly examined, but I believe he is not seriously injured.
"For this game, we had analysed Timor Leste and had an idea how they would play.
"For the next match with Malaysia, we still don't know how it will be because we have not met Malaysia yet. After this, we will get back and analyse the Malaysian game in detail.
"For this match, after the first half, we tried to improve the game and the players did better in the second half."
Meanwhile, Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president Nualphan Lamsam has announced a three-million-baht special bonus for the team if they could qualify for the semi-finals.
Quick off the blocks
Timor Leste were prepared to maintain their shape in the opening exchanges, trying to make it difficult for Thailand to break through.
But it did not take Thailand too long to find a way through, or around as proved to be the case for the opening goal just three minutes in.
It was William Weidersjo who played the ball to team striker Gustavsson, who brought the ball down, but Timor defender Joao Panji inadvertently deflected the ball into Davis's path for a low finish into the bottom corner.
In the 16th minute, Gustavsson scored the second goal after William Weidersjo opened the ball back to him on the edge of the six-yard box. He made no mistake, making it 2-0 lead over Timor Leste.
The strike relieved the pressure on the Thais and opened the floodgates, with the War Elephants going on to put up a scoring clinic for everyone to see at the Hang Day Stadium.
Thailand will next face Malaysia in Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium in five days' time before Timor Leste travel to Kuala Lumpur to take the Malaysians on Wednesday.
After the tussle with the Malaysians, the War Elephants will visit Singapore on Dec 17 and host Cambodia three days later.
A devastating display saw the War Elephants hold a 4-0 half-time lead with goals from Benjamin Davis, who got his side up and running just three minutes after the start, Patrik Gustavsson, Suphanat Mueanta and another from Davis.
The Thais didn't take long to add to their tally in the second half. Suphanat made it 5-0, Seksan Ratree, with a brace, delivered the sixth and seventh before Teerasak Poeiphimai made it eight.
Two more goals were added before second half stoppage time through Teerasak and Nicholas Mickelson.
Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii told a post-match press conference his team had done their homework for the match.
"Every player after scoring a goal tried to collect the ball to start over again. I didn't focus on breaking the record whether we win by one goal or 10 goals, we still earn three points," said the Japanese coach.
The 10-0 win for Thailand over Timor Leste is a new record for the War Elephants in this tournament.
"We don't know much about the past statistics here. The players are doing well because everyone is determined to score goals all the time.
"Benjamin Davis has not been thoroughly examined, but I believe he is not seriously injured.
"For this game, we had analysed Timor Leste and had an idea how they would play.
"For the next match with Malaysia, we still don't know how it will be because we have not met Malaysia yet. After this, we will get back and analyse the Malaysian game in detail.
"For this match, after the first half, we tried to improve the game and the players did better in the second half."
Meanwhile, Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president Nualphan Lamsam has announced a three-million-baht special bonus for the team if they could qualify for the semi-finals.
Quick off the blocks
Timor Leste were prepared to maintain their shape in the opening exchanges, trying to make it difficult for Thailand to break through.
But it did not take Thailand too long to find a way through, or around as proved to be the case for the opening goal just three minutes in.
It was William Weidersjo who played the ball to team striker Gustavsson, who brought the ball down, but Timor defender Joao Panji inadvertently deflected the ball into Davis's path for a low finish into the bottom corner.
In the 16th minute, Gustavsson scored the second goal after William Weidersjo opened the ball back to him on the edge of the six-yard box. He made no mistake, making it 2-0 lead over Timor Leste.
The strike relieved the pressure on the Thais and opened the floodgates, with the War Elephants going on to put up a scoring clinic for everyone to see at the Hang Day Stadium.
Thailand will next face Malaysia in Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium in five days' time before Timor Leste travel to Kuala Lumpur to take the Malaysians on Wednesday.
After the tussle with the Malaysians, the War Elephants will visit Singapore on Dec 17 and host Cambodia three days later.
