Thailand beats Vietnam to win 2006 King's Cup

Thailand won a solid 3-1 victory over South East Asian rivals Vietnam to win the annual King's Cup tournament for the first time in six years. Backed by one of Thailand's biggest football crowds in recent years, the hosts controlled the match from the start and sealed victory with goals from Sutee Suksomkit and Pipat Tonkanya. The Vietnamese pulled back a goal on 68 minutes when Phan Thanh Binh found the net but the Thais responded less than a minute later with a Suchao Nuthnum low drive.

"It was a great team effort overall, the attack, midfield and defence. I'm happy with the way we've played here. Vietnam made it tough by playing a defensive game, that's why it took us so long to score," Thai coach Charnwit Pholcheewin told Martin Petty of Reuters.

"They were better than us, but we could have played better. We were in third gear throughout the game and when they had the ball they were so much better than us. It's always the same -- my players can't play to their full potential," Vietnam's Austrian coach Alfred Riedl said.