BURIRAM, Thailand: Buriram United FC head coach Mark Jackson praised his side’s determination after defeating Selangor FC 2-1 in an intense second leg of the 2025/26 Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup final at Buriram Stadium on Wednesday to claim the title with a 3-1 aggregate win.
The defending champions were pushed to the limit by the Malaysia Super League outfit and the victory leaves Buriram United on track for a trophy treble having already claimed the Thai League 1 crown and with the Thai FA Cup final against Prachuap FC to come on Sunday.
“My team have done this so many times this year, they have shown resilience and dug in when at times we’ve not been our best,” Jackson said of a Buriram United side that came back from a goal down in the second leg to lift the trophy for a second year in a row.
“They showed the fight and the work rate and then, when we needed them to, we scored quality goals as well. My overriding feeling is I’m immensely proud of the team and the group and to get the (league and Shopee Cup™) double in the bag already is fantastic.
“Like always I’ll be focused on the next game.”
Buriram United were made to battle to retain the trophy by a fast-starting Selangor side that took the lead through Syahir Bashah’s 18th minute strike after a mistake by home goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.
Suphanat Mueanta latched on to Theerathon Bunmathan’s chipped pass in the 28th minute to level despite Buriram United’s struggles, and the goal prompted an immediate tactical reappraisal by Jackson.
Defender Pansa Hemviboon had been part of a three-man backline but was replaced by striker Supachai Chaided as Buriram United reverted to a back four and, vitally, that tweak gave the home side the control required to win the final.
“Sometimes as a coach you have to say you got things wrong, and I got things wrong with our shape tonight,” said Jackson. “What I have to do is I have to correct those mistakes and that’s what I did.
“It’s a real shame for Pansa that he has to come off but it was purely tactical. I had to make the change to get control of the game and the team did that.
“We just wanted to try to get some more pressure on the ball. I felt we had big numbers on the back line and we didn’t need all those numbers, so going to a line of four enabled us to get more pressure on the ball and have more of a threat going forward, so it worked out.”
Theerathon capped Buriram United’s improved performance with a stunning winner 10 minutes into the second half, the veteran midfielder stroking a looping volley past Sikh Izhan via the underside of the crossbar from 25 yards out to decide the title.
Etheridge then redeemed himself in the dying minutes with a stunning save from Chrigor Moraes as he pushed the Brazilian’s goal-bound header onto the crossbar to extinguish Selangor hopes of a late comeback.
“He’s an exceptional shot-stopper,” Jackson said of the Philippines international. “Mistakes happen in games but there have been so many times this year where he has saved us and pulled us out.
“We take that mistake on the chin. He’s an experienced player who doesn’t go under, his character stays strong and he made some exceptional saves today.”
