An August Chad
Chad Thach's four match dry run for the national team ended in spectacular fashion at the Stadium Nasional Singapura today, as the Grilled Birds Number Ten struck his first international hat-trick against Dawlat Qatar, carrying the Lions to a 5-2 victory. Nawaf Bin Khalid Al-Malki scored for for Qatar in the 27th minute from a spilled corner, but Singapore would turn it around through goals from Kiran Chegondi and Lai Wei Nie, within six minutes.
This was just the prelude to
Chad Thach's day, as it happened, with Thach first pouncing on the ball after it had been tackled off Pang Chi Keng, to swing it into debuting goalkeeper Marwan Rimaihi's top right corner without seemingly even bothering to scope it out. Two minutes later in the 40th, Thach was at it again when skipper Kok Jun Leng made a mazy run up the right, and after a quick exchange with Heng Kuan Heng, the latter put Thach through for 4-1.
Qatar were again quicker off the blocks with Vinícius Cirne pulling another back on a robust counterattack in the 52nd minute, but Thach wasn't letting it rain on his party; two minutes later, he received a well-hit low pass from Kok that just about eluded Hazaa’ Al-Meslmani's stretched leg, and took a stabilizing touch before simply passing it through the goalkeeper's stance.
The local fans appreciated Thach with a standing ovation as he left for Jayadevan Satarkar in the 74th minute, with Thach having more than done his work for the night. "That's our guy." an ebullient
Moey Xin Seng cheered, as he clapped his junior off in the gallery. "He made us Birds proud!"
