By Terry Fredrickson
Football fans packed the victory parade route from Don Mueang airport to the national stadium yesterday as the Suzuki Cup champions returned to cheers and a reported 32-million-baht bounty. (Update: 1st stop today was Siriraj Hospital)
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Thai team visits Siriraj Hospital
After their lengthy welcome home celebrations yesterday, the Thai national football players were up early this morning. Their first scheduled appearance was at Siriraj Hospital where they all left their best-wishes for His Majesty the King’s speedy recovery from his recent illness.
They had a special reason for going. Down 2-0 at the half to a resurgent Malaysian side in a stadium filled with 90,000 hostile fans, a call from a representative of the King raised their spirits. They refused to be disheartened even after Malaysia scored a third goal to take a short-lived 3-2 aggregate lead.
The visit to Siriraj also gave Thai football fans a chance to get close to their heroes. For a while it was selfie heaven.
B32m bounty awaits cup victors
Tor Chittinand
Goal scorers in Malaysia Charyl Chappuis (top) and Chanathip "Messi J" Songkrasin (bottom) arrive at Don Mueang airport. NATTAPOL LOVAKIJ
The Thai national football team has reportedly been offered 32 million baht in rewards after they won the AFF Suzuki Cup on Saturday.
The national team arrived back in Bangkok yesterday to the cheers of ecstatic fans who had waited for hours at Don Mueang airport to greet them.
According to a source, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul has approved a 7 million baht reward for the team after they beat Malaysia 4-3 on aggregate in the AFF Suzuki Cup final to end a 12-year wait for the trophy.
The prize money offered by Ms Kobkarn comes on top of cash prizes offered by the organiser and sponsors, and takes the total amount of prizes pledged so far to 32 million baht.
Other rewards include 6.5 million baht from the tournament's organiser, 11.6 million baht from the Football Association of Thailand, and 7 million baht from Lohtong Holding Co, the main sponsor.
Thousands of supporters flocked to Don Mueang airport to welcome the players before the team boarded two open-top vehicles for a parade from the airport to Supachalasai Stadium, where a celebration party was held.
Thousands of people waited along the parade route to catch a glimpse of the Asean champions yesterday, particularly at the Victory Monument and Siam Square.
"You are the best," shouted one fan.
Never too young to be a Thai football fan. NATTAPOL LOVAKIJ
"I am here to watch Chappuis. He is so skilful and handsome," another female fan said of the Thai-Swiss midfielder.
The team danced to the song "We are the Champions" and the crowd shouted the names of popular members of the team, including coach Kiatisak Senamuang and star players Chanathip "Messi J" Songkrasin and Charyl Chappuis.
The War Elephants, as the Thai team is known, lost 2-3 to Malaysia in the second leg of the final in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday but won the tournament with a 4-3 aggregate win after winning the first leg 2-0 in Bangkok on Wednesday.
As a result of the victory, Kiatisak becomes the first man to win the Asean crown both as a player and a coach, following the three Asean titles he won as a player. This is the fourth time Thailand has won the biennial event.
Kiatisak steered the U23 side to SEA Games gold last year and helped Thailand reach the semi-finals at the Asian Games earlier this year. The team will now set its sights on the 2018 World Cup qualifying, 2016 Olympic qualifying and SEA Games.
Vocabulary
aggregate: a total number or amount made up of smaller amounts that are collected together - ผลรวม, ผลรวบยอด
appearance: an act of appearing in public - การปรากฎตัว
approve: to give official permission - อนุมัต
association: an official group of people who have joined together for a particular purpose - สมาคม
biennial: happening once every two years - เกิดขึ้นทุกๆสองปี
board: to get onto a ship, aircraft, train, or bus - ขึ้น(เรือ รถเมล์ รถไฟ เครื่องบิน)
bounty: the good things that something provides - รางวัล, ความเอื้ออารี,ของขวัญ
cash: money - เงินสด
disheartened: a feeling of disappointment, i.e., that you have lost hope and energy - หมดกำลังใจ,ท้อใจ
ecstatic: extremely happy or pleased - ปิติ ยินดียิ่ง
favourite: something you like the best of all similar things - ที่ชอบมากที่สุด, ที่โปรดปราน, ของโปรด
flock: to go somewhere in large numbers; to gather together in large numbers - แห่กันไป
glimpse: when you see something or someone for a very short time - การเหลือบดู, การชำเลือง, การชายตามอง
handsome: attractive; good-looking - รูปหล่อ
hostile: behaving in a very unfriendly or threatening way towards someone - ไม่เป็นมิตร, เป็นปรปักษ์, ต่อต้าน,มีเจตนาร้าย
intersection: a place where roads, lines, etc., join or cross each other - สี่แยก
leg: one part of a competition - ผลัดหนึ่งในเกมการแข่งขันกีฬา
midfielder: a football player whose position is mainly in the central part of a sports field - ผู้เล่นกองกลาง
monument: a statue or building that is built to honour a special person or event - อนุสาวรีย์ หรืออนุสรณ์สถาน
offer: to make something available or to provide the opportunity for something - เสนอ
organiser: an event organiser; a person or company that organises big events such as beauty contests -
particularly: especially, or more than usual - โดยเฉพาะ
pledge: to promise - คำมั่้นสัญญา
popular: a situation in which someone or something is liked by many people - เป็นที่นิยม, เป็นที่ชื่นชอบ
qualifying: the competition before a tournament to determine which teams qualify - เข้ารอบ)
recovery: the process of becoming normal and healthy again - การฟื้นตัว, การฟื้นฟู
reportedly: as reported (often used for showing that you are not certain that something you are reporting is true) - ตามที่รายงาน
representative: someone who has been chosen or elected by a person or group to vote, give opinions, or make decisions for them - ผู้แทน
resurgent: becoming stronger or more popular again - ซึ่งฟื้นคืนพลังใหม่
reward: something given in exchange for good behaviour or good work, etc - รางวัล
route: the roads used to go from one place to another - เส้นทาง
scheduled: planned to happen at a particular time or day - ตามตารางเวลา
semi-finals: the two games that are played immediately before the last game in a sports competition. The two people or teams who win the semifinals play each other in the last game, called the final, to decide who wins the competition - การแข่งขันกีฬารอบรองชนะเลิศ
set your sights: to have as your purpose or goal - มีเป้าหมาย มีจุดมุ่งหมาย
skilful: very good at doing something that involves special ability or training - ซึ่งมีทักษะ
source: someone who gives information - แหล่งข่าว
spirits: mood, feelings - อารมณ์
sponsor: to support a person, organization or activity by giving money, encouragement or other help - อุปถัมภ์, สนับสนุน
squad: a team in sports from which the players for a match are chosen - ทีม
steer: to control the direction in which something or someone moves - นำทาง ถือพวงมาลัย
sunset: the time of the evening when the sun is no longer seen - พระอาทิตย์ตกดิน
trophy: a large silver cup or similar object given as a prize to the winner of a competition - ถ้วยรางวัล
via: through - ผ่าน (ช่องทาง)
victor: the winner of a battle, competition, game, etc. - ผู้ชนะ
