The general foreign player rule for 2012 is 3+1. This means a max. of three foreign players can be field the same time not related to any Asian FA. +1 is the Asian foreign spot related to any of the AFC FA memebers. Anthony counts as native, because as I mentioned, he already owns a Thaipass. You can nominate 5 foreign players for the game sheet, by a max of 7 foreign players registred for the league. E.g. if all of your 7 foreign players are injured, you are f**cked. In case of Buriram, the 7 are: Honda (Japan), Ekwalla, Rajabov (UZB), Ohandza (gone), Cetkovic, Obama Florent, Acheampong. Rajabov is injured, Ohandza moved. Leaves you with 5 at the moment.
Ampai went 90 in the big match against Muangthong Utd. This was probably his best game and it might be due to the fact that Thai national team coach (Winfried Schaefer) was in attendance. Looks like he had good chances to score from the highlights, and was wide open at least 2x, but Acheampong chose not to pass. It doesn't surprise me that Acheampong (18 years old) plays the way he does, i.e., tries to dribble 20-30 yards beating several players, instead of making a simple pass to the open man in front of goal. Anyways, the German who coaches the Thai NT was impressed of Ampai. https://twitter.com/Thai_League/status/237916259960897537
Well that was on 21 August. This is from five days earlier: taken from here: thai-fussball.com ...and you will be surprised or not, but Anthony Ampaipitakwong received his first call up for the friendly next week vs Laos.
Sven Goran Eriksson has been appointed as technical director of BEC TERO Sassana. His first tough task was to lead BEC to Buriram of Anthony in the quarter finals (1st Leg) of the Toyota League Cup 2012 last night. The result is Buriram 1 -1 BEC!!!
Ampai scored the equalizer in the 62' against BEC Tero Sasana. This was a League Cup match and brings his scoring tally to 2 for the season.
Ampai scored Buriram's last goal in their 3-3 draw with Army Utd. Buriram were up 3-0 before Army Utd scored 3 unanswered goals to equalize. This is his 3rd goal from all competitions in Thailand.
Apppreciate the update. I think you got the wrong link, though. "In the 38th minute, Buriram again found space behind Roar's full-backs, with Kai Hirano shooting hard at Theo, while Anthony Ampaipitakwong found plenty of space at the top of the box just before half-time, only to miss the target." http://www.sportal.com.au/football-news-display/buriram-beat-roar-on-penalties-221939 From his blog: "2 Cup Champions! Posted on February 6, 2013 by Ampaipitakwong Good Day World! I am sorry I have been slacking on my blog and updates. A lot has happened since 2012. We ended the season with some shiny hardware! Buriram United won both the FA Cup and Toyota Cup!! Both games were played in Bangkok in front of sell out crowds and thousands of our home town supporters. Here’s a look at some of the moments from both games. Because we won the FA Cup, this qualified us to play a wild card game on February 13 against one of the top teams in Australia, Brisbane Roar FC, at our home stadium. Who ever wins this game will advance into the AFC Champions League. We have begun training and preparing for this coming game for many weeks. There are a lot of new faces to the squad in 2013 so a big part of pre season has been finding team chemistry and getting to know the new players. This pre season the team had two days off from training to do some team bonding exercises and activities. But this wasn’t any normal activities I was use to, this was Thailand Military Camp for two days. Wake up at 7am and undergo boot camp until 6pm. And all we had was each other. I will update my blog soon about our twos days in boot camp with plenty of pictures! Until then take care and SMILE!! http://anthonyampaipitakwong.wordpress.com/
"Anthony" as the Thai media refers to him, was called up into camp to face Lebanon for an Asian Cup qualifier. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/338231/40-players-called-up-for-lebanon-tie Also, he provided the assist on the corner scored by Barba, in last week's Asian Champions League group tie against Vegalta Sendai.
Ampai played very well in his 1st appearance with the Thai NT against Qatar (1-0 loss). Had excellent chances on goal in 17' and 38'. He will be officially cap tied when they play Lebanon tonight in an Asian Cup qualifier.
That's too bad he didn't stay in the mix for the USMNT, but good luck to him there. Certainly charting his own course. Meanwhile ... advantage Alfredo Morales: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...ertha-bsc-berlin.414584/page-21#post-27310885 I had big plans for a morning not involving half-naked Thai boys. So much for that.
Ampai transfers to Bangkok United. Don't have any other details; contract on his Wiki page says 2.5 yrs with Buriram in 2012, so this might imply a loan. From what I've seen of him this year, he lost his place to two players: Carmelo Gonzalez (central midfielder who is the current top scorer (15 goals in TPL), and Jujeen (right midfielder who plays two ways). Ampai isn't really a two-way battler and more like an attacking midfielder who plays behind the strikers. It also doesn't help that Buriram play with 6 defenders (6-3-1 formation) in their ACL campaign so tactically Ampai didn't fit in unless he's willing to play as a two-way midfielder. He will get much more playing time at Bangkok United.
Really like this kid. Living the dream! Maybe after a few years he can come back to MLS and have an impact on a team like Lee Nguyen did.
Is there a team in Phuket? Because that's a team I'd want to play for. First, because Phuket is beautiful. And second, because... Phuket. Think of the t-shirts... and the thread-titles on BigSoccer!
Serious response to a post made in jest: yes there is a team in Phuket. They are in the thick of the League 1 (tier 2) promotion battle to be in the 2014 Thai Premier League. You should ask for a try-out! Bangkok United is reported to have paid 3.5 million baht ($115,000 or so) for Ampai. That's a new club record for them.
I am SO there! If you're a player at the end of you're career and not looking to make money but just have a cool experience, how awesome would playing in Phuket be? If all they did was cover your housing and pay you enough to eat and have a car for a year, it would totally be worth it.
Ampai was too good to sit on the bench compared to the others being subbed in. Some games he didn't even get into the game as a sub so i suspected there was more to it than meets the eye? I thought he might go back to MLS since he wasn't playing but surprised he would go to another team in the TPL. If you watch him play, he provides a calming presence in the final third of the field and looks for that decisive final pass for the goal. Most TPL teams play too fast while attacking and turn over the ball too often. i.e., they don't have the physical attributes to play English kick and run style.