That was the weekend that was: Thai is Huddersfield's dish of the moment

Monday 20 December 1999 00:02 GMT
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HUDDERSFIELD may be top of the First Division and Clyde Wijnhard rattling in the goals but the man who can claim to be their most popular player has yet to make his debut in a Terriers shirt.

The Thai international Kiatisuk Senamuang - currently finding his feet in Huddersfield's reserves - may be unknown in England but in his native land he is as big a star as David Beckham, and even in his chilly Pennine outpost he cannot escape the attention of his adoring fans.

As the first Thai player to join a European club, Senamuang - nicknamed Zico because of his Brazilian-style penchant for bicycle kicks - has attracted massive interest. "He is receiving between 700 and 800 e-mails every day," said his agent, Afarapa Vudhivate. "They want to know everything about how he is getting on. We are working on his own website so his fans can all read his news." In addition to his bulging electronic postbag, the striker, captain of the Thai national side, has sacks full of letters and gifts arriving at his hotel base.

Huddersfield gave Senamuang an 18-month contract after he impressed them in a trial but want him to be fully acclimatised before letting him join the first team. Last week's snow, for example, was the first he had ever seen.

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