50,000-strong unfriendly Thais intimidate Azkals

BANGKOK – Fans back home can learn much from Thailand’s intimidating 50,000-strong supporters, who filled Rajamangala Stadium to near capacity to rally behind the must-win War Elephants against the Philippine Azkals in the AFF Suzuki Cup semis.

From the moment the protagonists entered the field, the Thais tirelessly cheered their team, applauding every touch, attack and good defensive plays while jeering and booing the Azkals every step of the way.

They really were the “12th man” on the pitch for the War Elephants.

“I hope people in the Philippines were watching this because then they could see that the 12th man is really a factor. I was talking to the players before the game and it was intimidating and it took them a while to get settled,” said team manager Dan Palami.

“The crowd really was a factor in this leg. I salute the Thai fans for coming to the stadium for their team – 50,000 of them. Maybe before talking about championships we could also start dreaming about fans being really up for big games like the semifinal,” he added.

Pinoy fans did show up for the Azkals home game at the smaller Rizal Memorial, which ended with a scoreless draw. But not yet adapted to the stadium culture of established nations, the Phl crowd were not as loud for 90 minutes as the Thais.

There are proposals to require local clubs to bring in spectators in national team’s home matches to get the ball rolling.

“I hope clubs will support us,” said Philippine Football Federation president Nonong Araneta.