Paso stars as Thailand open with a win
Ulaanbaatar: Sittichok Paso (pictured above, No 8) was on fire, hitting a hat-trick to steer Thailand to a 3-1 win over Singapore in their opening AFC U-19 Championship 2018 Qualifiers Group I tie at the MFF Football Centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Saturday.
Paso shocked Singapore with his opening goal just 39 seconds into the match and Thailand didn't look back from there on.
Boosted by the early goal, Marc Alavedra Palacios' men went into the hunt for a second but Singapore tightened their defence to hold Thailand at bay.
Singapore's resilience, however, only lasted till the 37th minute as Paso hit the target again for a 2-0 lead.
Christophe Chaintreuil's men could have narrowed the deficit three minutes later when they were awarded a penalty but Benjamin Davis' spotkick hit the woodwork.
Singapore, however, offered themselves hope of a comeback when substitute Muhammad Danial Syafiq scored from the penalty spot in the 57th minute.
Boosted after having narrowed the deficit, Singapore went in search of the equaliser but it was to no avail.
Paso calmed Thailand's nerves by notching his hat-trick from long range two minutes into added-on time.
Up next for Thailand on Monday are hosts Mongolia while Singapore face the daunting task of taking on Japan.
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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