AFF Futsal Championship 2018 - Thailand's 14th title
Today, Thailand were crowned AFF futsal champions for a record 14th time after beating Malaysia in the final in Yogyajarta, Indonesia by 4 goals to 2. The AFF futsal championship is a yearly competition to determine who is the best in this sport in South-East Asia. Thailand have won the competition every time they represent and claimed the trophy back-to-back for seven times now! The competition started in 2001 and Indonesia are the only other nation to have won the AFF trophy in 2010 when Thailand wasn't representing due to a clash with another competition they were competing in. No tournament was played in 2002 and 2004 and in 2011 the competition was cancelled due to safety reasons.
It has become expected that Thailand brings this trophy home each year as they dominant this sport in South-East Asia. They are ranked 18th in the world and 3rd in Asia after Iran and Japan. It was a pleasure to watch "The Small Tables", as they are known as, play and represent their country with confidence and pride!
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We were all going crazy in ourhouse and the wife even bought me a beer in celebration. One beer a year is a bonus from her lol ;-)
Ah that's great to hear someone else on Steemit celebrating this victory too! Waiting for the AFF Suzuki Cup to finish and then hopefully can celebrate a good year for Thai football (minus the domestic season as I support Muangthong United, who came 4th in the league and miss out on Asian football).
Enjoy your beer bonus! Chai Yo! 🍻
hahaha think about me, Im an Air Force Central fan for the last 7 years now as I live close to the stadium and we have just been relegated drom Division 1 :-(
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Ah so we're not that far off in location as I live 7-10 minutes away from the SCG Stadium of Muangthong. I believe Air Force Central is a bit beyond Don Mueng.
Well, it was always going to be a tough season for you to stay up. Chainat got to stay up courtesy of BG on the last day and Prachuap have rich and ambitious owners, who probably would have bailed and sold the club if they went down. Your team usually bounces inbetween Div1 and Div2. Hopefully, you'll bounce right back up! 😊
We're actualoy in Sai Mai now but before we lived on Lamlukka. I first started watching them not long after I came here because I saw the ground and read how they were once the best team in Thailand and had fallen from grace amidst financial problems. Then I saw the 'Home of the brave' poster and I realised they are the Thai twins of my beloved Leeds United! There could be no other team in Thailand for me! Its just a bit sad in that huge stadium when its so empty. I also think the influx of foreign players is bad too, most of them look likemthey dont give a damn and are just there somthey can earn a few quid and stay in Thailand. Im appalled by some of them
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Yea the other day I was looking into past winners of the Thai league and saw how there were a few defunct teams now (Thai Farmers Bank, who were twice Asian Champions Cup (now known as Asian Champions League) winners, being one of them). It was mainly due to the Tom Yam Goong financial crisis in 97/98 that made these teams bankrupt. Yet, other teams just have bad financial planning and management or just no vision for the club. Rajpracha (I believe that's what they are called) were a top team in Thailand donkey years ago, but now play their trade in the regional leagues of Div3/4. Sad to hear that a club with actual history consists of part-time players and then you have some Div1 team(s) that were established in 2010 or whatever claiming they are creating history... Chiang Rai United is one of them after winning the two donestic cups this season.
As for the foreign players, I was pretty upset about Jaja's (Coelho) contribution for Muangthong this season after a brilliant season prior with Buriram. He just wasn't worth the money that we paid for him and for the money he was getting weekly! Some foreign players do try and make a difference and others, like you said, leech the system. Still agree with the six foreign players per team (four outside Asia, one Asian and one ASEAN) and only three on the pitch at one time rule. Just need a few better foreign players.