Despite having never beaten the hosts in the previous four meetings in the World Cup qualifiers, Thailand started promisingly and enjoyed the better chances in the opening half of the Group B encounter held in Saudi capital.Striker Teerasil Dangda, who led the line on his own up front, was at the heart of the visitors' best moves. The 28-year-old looked to have a strong claim for a penalty when he was brought down by the Saudi goalkeeper but the referee deemed the offence occurred just outside the area before Sarach Yooyen fired the resulting free kick against the wall.After the break, Teerasil came even closer to stunning the hosts when he got on the end of a Theerathon Bunmathan cross but his header from point-blank range was denied by the home keeper just before the hour mark.The hosts came into life in the last half hour and earned a late penalty following Sarach's reckless challenge inside the box and Nawaf Al Abed made no mistake from the spot. Tristan Do then nearly grabbed an unlikely equaliser for the Thais but his header was ruled out for offside in the dying minutes.The Thai side next face four-time Asian champions Japan, who are reeling from a shock 2-1 home defeat by UAE, at Rajamangala National Stadium on September 6.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 01, 2016 19:52 UTC