Spirited Thailand sunk by superior Japan

It was the similar story for the Thais, who gave a decent fight but again found the gap with the continent’s elite too far to bridge as they slumped to a sixth defeat in seven group games that left them firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.       

Heading into the clash at the Saitama Stadium on the back of a demoralising 3-0 loss at home to Saudi Arabia last week, the Thai side, whose qualification hopes were all but over after managing just a single point from a possible 18, had nothing but pride to play for against the four-time Asian champions.   

The two countries suffered a losing start to their campaign in the continent’s decisive qualifying round for the 2018 tournament in Russia. However, while Thailand never recovered from the early setback, the Japanese have fought their way back into the contention with a six-game unbeaten run to tie on 13 points with the Saudis at the top of the standings.  

Given the two’s contrasting form, it would be nothing short of a major achievement if the Thais could take anything from the encounter against the opponents lying in the 51st spot as Asia’s third best-ranked team.  

The Thais started reasonably well but the hosts had little trouble in unlocking the visiting defence as they managed to open the scoring from their first real attack.  

A searching ball from their own half sent Yuya Kubo down the right flank before the forward sent a low cross into the box for Shinji Kagawa, who expertly fired home his shot through Thai defenders.

The visitors appeared to struggle to get to the grip with the Japanese’s slick passing and Kawin Thamsatchanan came to his side’s rescue by producing a diving save to turn behind Hotaru Yamaguchi’s curling shot after a nice interlink play set him up inside the area.

Moments later, Kawin could do nothing to prevent the hosts from extending their advantage as Shinji Okazaki, who plies his trade with Thai-owned English club Leicester City, sent a bullet header inside the near post from another delivery from Kubo.

The Thai side, however, grew in statue towards the end of the opening half, with Eiji Kawashima smothering Teerasil Dangda’s low effort from the edge of the box. They then failed to claw a goal back when a corner triggered a goalmouth scramble shortly before halftime.

The visitors carried over their momentum into the second half, with J-League-bound Chanathip Songkrasin, who will join Consadole Sapporo in July from Thai League champions Muangthong United, forcing Kawashima to make decent stop from his crisp effort.

However, the contest was over but all when Kubo capped his impressive display with a rasping drive that went high into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 in the 57th minute. Captain Maya Yoshida added a fourth with a towering header from a corner seven minutes from time before Teerasil spurned the golden opportunity to register the Thai team’s rare goal against the Japanese as he saw his spot kick saved by Kawashiwa.