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Published on December 27, 2007

The King's Cup tournament is headed for a fitting finale after Asian Cup champions Iraq set up a rematch with Thailand in Saturday's showdown beating Uzbekistan 3-1 at the Rajamangala National Stadium yesterday.

Having suffered a 2-1 loss to hosts and defending champions Thailand in their first meeting, in which the decider came from a late own goal, Iraq now have the opportunity to set the record straight.

With Iraq's victory over the Uzbek team securing the war-torn country their second win in the tournament and a place in the final, the match between the hosts and North Korea was rendered a mere formality.

National coach Chanvit Pholchivin rang in changes with Pipat Thonkanya, Suriya Domthaisong and Teeratep "Leesaw" Winothai making their first start upfront.

The match was relatively entertaining with both teams intent on avoiding defeat in their last fixture of the round-robin stage. The home team had a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the 15th minute when captain Nirut Surasiang put the ball back across the face of the goal but Pipat contrived to fire it wide from barely six yards out.

The hosts continued to enjoy majority of the possession but struggled to make inroad into the visitors' tight defence and finally settled for a 1-0 victory.

Chanvit's men were limited to trying their luck from distance but Manchester City-bound Teerasil Daengda fired his shot harmlessly wide from just outside the area six minutes from the interval.

In the second half, the visitors continued to frustrate the hosts but their stubborn resistance was undone by a goalkeeping howler, which allowed defender Pathipan Phetphun to score his first goal in national colours in the 56th minute. Kim Myong-gil misread Narongchai Vachiraban's free-kick and Pat-hipan headed home.

The hosts were indebted to goalie Sivarak Tedsungnoen, who dived full-stretch to his right and got a fingertip to a header which looked destined for the goal.

The hosts spent the rest of the game protecting their lead. Despite facing a late challenge from the visitors, the home team were able to complete their first-round campaign with a perfect record, with three wins out of three.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation