Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Mandalay: Thailand have become the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Women’s Championship’s first three-time winner after a 6-5 thrilling penalty shootout victory in the 2016 tournament’s final against Vietnam in Myanmar.
The Thais retained the title they won in 2015 in the ensuing penalty shootout after the match finished 1-1 following a dramatic equaliser from Vietnam’s Nguyen Minh Thi Nguyet with five minutes remaining in normal time.
Despite their strong historical record in the tournament, the Thais were considered the underdogs going into the final, having suffered a 2-0 defeat to Vietnam in the Group Stage on Saturday.
But Thailand, whose excellent 2-1 semi-final win against Australia’s highly-fancied U-20 team had kept them in the competition, took an early lead through Rattikan Thongsombut.
As the match wore on, Vietnam began to dictate terms and twice struck the woodwork, but it wasn’t until the 85th minute that they finally found their equaliser through Nguyen.
After a goalless extra-time period, the match was decided from the penalty spot with Thailand prevailing.
In addition to becoming the tournament’s first three-time winner, Thailand are also the first team to win successive AFF Women’s Championship titles and they remain ASEAN champions in both men’s and women’s football.
Earlier, host nation Myanmar claimed third place in the tournament with a 1-0 win over Australia.