BUSAN (South Korea), Sept 27: Kiatisuk Senamuang scored in the 41st minute and Thailand went on to blank Yemen 3-0 here Friday in an opening-round Asian Games football match.

The Thai captain, known as the “Thai Zico”, went head over heels with joy after the goal, which ended a series of frustrating failures against the counter-attacking Yemeni defense in the Group B encounter.

Narongchai Vachiraban added a goal in the 58th minute and Manit Noyvach followed with the final tally in the 66th.

The victory, coupled with Vietnam’s goal-less draw with the United Arab Emirates, left the Thai squad alone atop Group B after the debut matches two days before the opening ceremonies of the 14th Asian multi-sport festival.

Kiatisuk blasted a right-footed shot past Yemeni netminder Faozi Abdullah Ba Muhid, then ran to the middle of the field and executed a perfect flip before being hugged by his teammates.

The Thai star, who had been given a yellow card in the 33rd minute, had another breakaway in the 43rd minute wiped out by an offside call.

Narongchai curled a shot into the right side of the net 13 minutes into the second half and Manit followed with a right-footed blast off a pass from Narongchai to complete a 3-on-2 breakaway situation.

Former England international Peter Withe, the Thai coach, had to be happy with his charges’ performance, as Yemen rarely threatened in the second half.

Rain pelted the other Group B matchup, which produced few good scoring opportunities and ended with the Vietnamese jumping for joy at holding the Arabian side to a draw.

Vietnamese goalkeeper Nguyen Then Anh denied United Arab Emirates forward Saeed Hassan Al Kas twice in a goal-less first half.

The goalkeeper fisted away a header off a free kick in the 24th minute and answered again on a hard kick from Al Kas in injury time.—AFP

South Korea 4 Maldives 0

Oman 1 Malaysia 0

Thailand 3 Yemen 0

Vietnam 0 UAE 0

India 3 Bangladesh 0

China 4 Turkmenistan 0