The 2012 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 9th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of Southeast Asia. It was co-hosted for group stage by Malaysia and Thailand and took place from 24 November to 22 December 2012.
Malaysia were the defending champions but were eliminated by Thailand in the semi-finals. Singapore became the first side to win the AFF Championship four times, beating Thailand 3–2 on aggregate in the finals. Singapore coach Radojko Avramović also became the most successful coach in tournament history, adding to his wins in 2004 and 2007.
Hosts On 17 December 2010, the Philippine Football Federation declared their interest to host the 2012 AFF Championship. However, with no other reported interest and following the meeting of the AFF Council on 19 February 2011, Malaysia and Thailand were announced as hosts of the group stage.
Venues There were two main venues; the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. The secondary venues; the Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor State and the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok for the final round of group games on 30 November and 1 December. The Supachalasai Stadium replaced the Muang Thong Stadium as the alternative venue for the final match day in Group A on 27 November, after itself had been replaced by the Muang Thong Stadium on 17 October. If Thailand reached the semifinals and finals, their home games were played at the Supachalasai Stadium as the Rajamangala was hosting the 2012 Race of Champions. Philippines and Singapore also hosted games due to making the knockout stages. The Philippines hosted at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, the first time an AFF Championship game was held in the Philippines and Singapore hosted at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Kuala Lumpur Shah Alam Bukit Jalil National Stadium Shah Alam Stadium Capacity: 110,000 Capacity: 80,372 Bangkok Bangkok Rajamangala Stadium Supachalasai Stadium Capacity: 49,722 Capacity: 19,793 Manila Singapore Rizal Memorial Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium Capacity: 12,873 Capacity: 8,000
Qualification
Qualification took place from 5 to 13 October 2012. It involved the five lower ranked teams in Southeast Asia. All teams played in a round-robin tournament format with the top two teams qualifying for the tournament proper. Six teams have qualified directly to the finals.
(Qualification runners-up)
(Qualification winners)
Draw The draw for the tournament as well as the qualification tournament took place on the afternoon of 11 July 2012 at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Bangkok. The teams that qualified via the qualifying stages were not yet determined at the time of the draw. The eight finalists were divided into four pots of two teams each based on team rankings.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4 (co-host) (co-host) Qualification winner – Qualification runner-up –
Squads
Final tournament Group stage Key to colours in group tablesTop two placed teams advanced to the semi-finals
Tie-breaking criteria Ranking in each group shall be determine as follows: Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches; Goal difference in all the group matches; Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches. If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows: Result of the direct match between the teams concerned; Drawing lots by the Organising Committee. However, these criteria would not apply if two teams tied on points, goals scored, and conceded played against each other in their final group match, are still level at the end of that match, and no other team in group finishes with same points; in that case, the tie would be broken by a penalty shootout.
Group A All matches were played in Thailand. Times listed are UTC+7.
Group B All matches were played in Malaysia. Times listed are UTC+8.
Knockout stage
Semifinals First Leg
Second Leg
Singapore won 1–0 on aggregate.
Thailand won 3–1 on aggregate.
Final First leg
Second leg
Singapore won 3–2 on aggregate.
Awards
Most Valuable PlayerGolden BootFair Play Award Shahril Ishak Teerasil Dangda Malaysia
Player statistics
Discipline In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches.
PlayerOffencesSuspensions Endra Prasetya in Group B v LaosGroup B v Singapore Sopha Saysana in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Malaysia Irwan Shah in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Laos Pichitphong Choeichiu in Group A v Philippines in Group A v MyanmarGroup A v Vietnam Âu Văn Hoàn in Group A v Myanmar in Group A v Thailand Lê Tấn Tài in Group A v Philippines in Group A v Thailand Hariss Harun in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Laos Wahyu Wijiastanto in Group B v Laos in Group B v SingaporeGroup B v Malaysia Muhammad Taufiq in Group B v Singapore in Group B v Malaysia Oktovianus Maniani in Group B v Singapore in Group B v Malaysia Arthit Sunthornpit in Group A v VietnamSemi-finals (1st Leg) v Malaysia
Player who get a card during the semifinals and final doesn't include here.
Goalscorers 5 goals Teerasil Dangda
4 goals Shahril Ishak
3 goals
Khampheng Sayavutthi Khairul Amri Kirati Keawsombat
2 goals Keoviengphet Liththideth
1 goal
Andik Vermansyah Raphael Maitimo Vendry Mofu Khonesavanh Sihavong Azamuddin Akil Khyril Muhymeen Mahali Jasuli Norshahrul Idlan Safee Sali Safiq Rahim Wan Zack Haikal Kyi Lin Emelio Caligdong Ángel Guirado Paul Mulders Phil Younghusband Aleksandar Đurić Baihakki Khaizan Fahrudin Mustafić Fazrul Nawaz Adul Lahsoh Anucha Kitpongsri Apipoo Suntornpanavej Jakkraphan Pornsai Theerathon Bunmathan Lê Tấn Tài Nguyễn Văn Quyết
Own goal Nguyễn Gia Từ (playing against Thailand)
Team statistics This table shows all team performance.
Media coverage 2012 AFF Championship Broadcasters in Southeast Asia Country Broadcast network Television stationRadio Televisyen BruneiRTB1National Radio and Television of KampucheaTVKMedia Nusantara CitraRCTI, Sindo TVLao National Radio and TelevisionLNTV1Radio Televisyen MalaysiaTV1Myanmar Radio and TelevisionMyanmar TelevisionAssociated Broadcasting CompanyAKTVMediaCorpChannel 5 (HD5), OktoRoyal Thai ArmyBBTV7Vietnam TelevisionVTV2
References
External links AFF Suzuki Cup official website ASEAN Football Federation official website