Thailand hosts Swiss for friendlies

Switzerland beat the Elephants twice, as Noel Ott’s coming back to full competition stands as the best news for the Alpine side

The season approaches and no side wants to be left behind as La Nati and the hosts played in two high scoring thrillers to improve their skills. The Sports Authority of Thailand Beach Soccer Training Camp was home for two friendly games facing the Thai National Team and Switzerland these last 12th and 13th of January.  The visitors won both matches, 6-4 and then 8-5, to hopefully set the stage for another successful season. The War Elephants had to overcome big games from some of the sports’ biggest stars, which they nearly did.

Monday’s match had the Thais fueled by two goals from Na-Nan but Switzerland had an answer for every goal they allowed. Despite the great ball and goal distribution by Thailand, the Swiss had Borer, who netted five goals on his own. The sixth goal for the European squad was scored by the Swiss Bomber, Stankovic to put the final score at 6-4 for Switzerland. More goals and tight play continued on Tuesday with the Asian side getting a hat-trick from Tapinna. Anything Thailand tried, Switzerland responded and in a big way. Their answer in the second match was a heavy dose of Borer and Ott, both scored four goals. That was all the offense they needed as the match finished with the Swiss up 8-5.

Making these matches even more important was the fact that the Beach Soccer Stars 2014 Rising Star, Noel Ott, made his comeback from a scary ACL injury only four months ago at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 – Europe Qualifier Jesolo. Despite missing the final three matches in Jesolo, his team qualified for the World Cup and there was some doubt if he could make a full recovery in time for Portugal, but the scoring of four goals on Tuesday shows that his hard-work and rehab is working.