Thailand's number one striker injured before the final
Dangda was substituted at halftime. According to Thai newspaper Thairath, the 34-year-old striker injured his hamstring. He will be taken to the hospital for a detailed examination of the extent of the injury.
Before leaving the field, Dangda opened the scoring with a header in the 19th minute, helping Thailand remove the pressure. In the second half, Bordin Phala and Adisak Kraisorn scored in the 55th and 71st minutes respectively. As a result, Thailand defeated Malaysia 3-0 in the second leg, winning 3-1 to enter the final against Vietnam.
Coach Mano Polking, at the press conference after the game, still hoped that Teerasil only suffered a minor injury. He also reassured fans that in the worst case, Thailand still has a replacement, Adisak. But the fact that the striker wears the number 9 shirt is still not comparable to his senior Teerasil in terms of quality and playing experience.
After the match with Malaysia, Thailand's goal is to recover physically before moving and be present in Hanoi tonight 11/1. They only practiced one trial session at My Dinh Stadium, before kicking off the first leg final on Friday, January 13. Three days later, the second leg will take place at Thammasat Stadium.
Dangda currently leads the list of goalscorers in the AFF Cup 2022 with six goals, followed by Nguyen Tien Linh of Vietnam with less than one goal. The striker born in 1988 is considered the best in Southeast Asia, having won the AFF Cup's top scorer four times in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. Teerasil also holds the AFF Cup's scoring record with 25 goals, eight more goals than the person behind - former Singapore striker Noh Alam Shah.
During his career, Teerasil has scored more than 210 goals, including 61 for the Thai team and only 10 goals less than the record of the legendary Kiatisuk Senamuang. He played in La Liga for Almeria in the 2014-2015 season, scoring once. He then played in the J-League 1 for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2018, scoring seven goals, then wearing the Shimizu S-Pulse shirt in 2020 and scoring three goals. Much of Teerasil Dangda's career is associated with Muangthong United. Currently, he plays for BG Pathum United.
