Reds held by Thailand

22 July 2009 15:56
Sutee Sumsomkit's second-half equaliser saw Thailand secure a battling 1-1 draw with Liverpool in a pre-season friendly at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. Thailand had the first sight of goal with just a minute on the clock when Diego Cavalieri's poor clearance fell straight to Datsakorn Thonglao but he shot wide from 30 yards with the Liverpool keeper scrambling back towards goal. The visitors took the lead when Jamie Carragher hit a long diagonal ball that picked out Ryan Babel's run after he had got in front of Suree Sukha. The Dutchman's touch took him away from the defender before he beat keeper Kosin Hathairattanakul with a low finish. Babel could have doubled the lead five minutes later when Krisztian Nemeth collected a weak headed clearance and played the winger in down the left but Kosin got down well to block. He had another chance after 20 minutes when he met Lucas' perfectly flighted ball from the left in space at the far post but cushioned his volley wide. Datsakorn then fired a 25-yard free-kick over the bar as the Thais were unable to convert a decent amount of possession into clear chances. Liverpool made a host of changes at the break but Martin Skrtel lasted only 10 minutes before limping off and fellow substitute Nabil El Zhar was replaced two minutes later. Javier Mascherano warmed Kosin's hands with a stinging drive but the second half was proving a low-key affair until the 71st minute when the hosts equalised. Sutee played a neat one-two with Teerasil Dungda and the former's left-footed finish found the bottom corner beyond substitute keeper Peter Gulacsi's outstretched hand. Andrea Dossena was sent clear by Andriy Voronin following a swift interchange but shot straight at Kosin before the Ukrainian wasted a glorious chance nine minutes from time when put clean through by Fernando Torres but missed from 10 yards and Glen Johnson curled an effort wide in injury time as Thailand held on.

Source: Eurosport