Muangthong coach admits huge relief at Asian qualification
Muangthong United coach Totchtawan Sripan said relief was his main reaction after the Thai League champions made sure of qualification for the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League for the first time with a convincing 3-0 victory over Brisbane Roar in their penultimate Group E clash at a packed SCG Stadium on Wednesday.
Former Newcastle United striker Xisco’s first-half header plus Chanathip Songkrasin’s breathtaking solo goal and Teerasil Dangda’s strike saw Muangthong complete a hat-trick of victories on home soil to secure passage into the last-16 round of the continent’s premier club competition with one game to spare.
The result meant Muangthong maintained their two-point lead at the top of the standings ahead of a trip to second-placed Kashima Antlers in two weeks’ time that will determine which side qualifies as group winners.
Australian A-League club Brisbane and South Korean outfit Ulsan Hyundai, who went down 4-0 at home to the Antlers in the group’s other match, were both already eliminated as they sit five points behind the J-League side with one game to play.
“I’m happy and the players deserve huge credit as they played with good discipline throughout. They might not have fielded their main players, but we didn’t underestimate them. Our initial target was to collect at least a point, so to come away with all three is a bonus for us.
“I never look at statistics as we take things one game at a time in trying to qualify for the next round. Every player has worked hard to be where we are now,” Totchtawan told the post-match conference, referring to his side’s unbeaten run of five games.
The former national midfielder added that clinching qualification, to become the first Thai club to go beyond the group stage of the competition since Buriram United’s run to the quarter-finals in 2013, gave him a huge sense of relief.
“I felt relieved after we eventually made it through. No one had any expectations before the start of the tournament. However, our hopes rose after three or four games and it felt like the whole country was rooting for us.
“We’re like the national team competing in the ACL and that gave me a little bit of pressure. When we did go through today, I felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. At the same time it also made our fans and everyone else in the country happy.”
