A Vietnamese fan with painted face plays drum before the game between Vietnam and Qatar in the My Dinh stadium yesterday. The match ended 1-1. - Reuters

BANGKOK (Reuters):

STRIKER PIPAT Tongkanya scored twice in eight minutes to lift hosts Thailand to a convincing 2-0 win over Oman and top spot in Asian Cup Group A yesterday.

Pipat combined with fellow substitute Teerathep Winothai in the 70th and 78th minutes to give the Thais a well-earned victory.

The goals came after 69 minutes of relentless Thai attacking, with the Omanis, who drew 1-1 with tournament favourites Australia on Sunday, rarely looking dangerous.

The victory was the kingdom's first in the Asian Cup since they made their debut in 1972.

"This match has helped us regain our confidence, we have never won a game in the Asian Cup, I'm very proud to be the first coach to do that," Charnwit Polcheewin said.

Good job

"Pipat and Teerathep both did a good job, but whether or not they will start in the next game depends on the tactics, and I won't give those away."

Oman coach Gabriel Calderon was unhappy with the four yellow cards his team picked up.

"The referee was hostile to Oman," the Argentine said. "The referee made mistakes, but maybe the Omanis just didn't play very good."

The win put Thailand on four points, three ahead of Iraq and Australia who meet today in the next Group A game.

Meanwhile, Qatar forward Sebastian Quintana burst Vietnam's bubble with a 79th-minute equaliser, salvaging a precious 1-1 draw with the Asian Cup co-hosts yesterday.

Vietnam were within sight of becoming the first team to reach the quarter-finals after Phan Thanh Binh's fortuitous strike after 32 minutes.

Horrible strike

Qatar goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr's attempt to smother Binh's speculative long-range strike went horribly wrong as he let the ball squirm under his body and trickle across the line.

But Uruguay-born Quintana, who scored in Qatar's 1-1 draw with Japan in their opening game, headed home from close range with just more than 10 minutes left to throw Group B wide open.

"I think in the end my team was a bit lucky," Vietnam's Austrian coach Alfred Riedl said. "Qatar created a lot of chances in the last 20 minutes and had us in some trouble."

The home side still leads Group B with four points. Holders Japan take on UAE today.

Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic praised his players for refusing to buckle in front of a partisan crowd of 40,000 in Hanoi.

"I'm very happy with the quality we showed and we came away with a valuable point," said the Bosnian, who had a touchline ban for the game overturned after being sent off against Japan.

"This result makes the group very interesting. It has suddenly become wide open again."