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Published on October 9, 2007

Sarayooth Chaikam-dee marked his return to the national team by scoring a brace in a 6-1 hammering of minnows Macau in their 2010 World Cup first-qualifying round first leg at Supachalasai stadium yesterday.

Having been left out of the Asian Cup squad in July due to his form, Sarayooth, dubbed "Jo five-yard" for the nature of the goals he usually scores, was recalled into the team as his prowess inside the box was considered useful for the hosts, who bid to avoid any potential pitfalls of a premature exit against a side lying as low as 188 in the world's ranking.

Sarayooth justified the national coach Chanvit Pholchivin's decision of fielding him in a best possible style and dismissed any lingering doubts about his ability in the process with a starring performance.

Chanvit paid tribute to his two-goal hero, who proved his critics wrong and showed what a valuable player he could be.

"Given the criticism he has received, I challenged him to prove himself in this match. I'm glad that he managed to do that," said Chanvit.

Given the result, Thailand looked certain to have one leg in the next round but Chanvit refused to accept that the tie was as good as over, saying that his side still has work to do in the return leg next Monday.

The home team signalled their intention by playing in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, a tactic that appeared effective in the 1-1 draw with the UAE in a warm-up last week, whereas the visitors countered the threat by packing five men in defence.

Macau's defensive approach almost backfired as early as in the ninth minute when a loose ball fell into the path of Sarayooth, seemingly in an offside position, but the striker failed to capitalise

his chance from barely ten yards.

Hitman Sarayooth, who plays for Vietnamese side Binh Dinh, quickly atoned for the miss when he took Teerasil Daengda's flick-on into his stride towards the goal before rounding the goalkeeper and tucking the ball home just two minutes later.

The floodgates appeared open as midway through the half the hosts moved two goals up with Teerasil's close-range header following a Tawan Sripan cross from the right side.

Moments later, the visitors managed to haul themselves back into the contention even though it appeared more to do with poor goalkeeping.

Geofredo De Sousa fired in a seemingly innocuous free-kick from left side but Kosin Hathairattanakook was unable to hold onto the ball and Seng Chan arrived in a flash to poke home the rebound, much to the surprise of the partisan crowd.

The Thai team spent the rest of the opening period peppering the visitors' goal but went in at half-time with only one goal cushion.

Soon after the restart, the hosts made it 3-1 when Sarayooth lived up to his billing with a poacher goal after a Datsakorn Thonglao corner caused havoc inside the visitors' area.

The contest all but ended in the 54th minute when star striker Teeratep Winothai scored the fourth for the hosts from the spot after Teerasil was chopped down by a defender.

The home side put more gloss to the scoreline by profiting from the visitors' susceptibility to the cross balls with two more headed efforts via Patiparn Phetphun and Datsakorn to round off their glorious night.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation