5 days ago
Thailand's U23 footballers ready for hostile crowd test, eye final spot
Thailand will take on hosts Indonesia in the semi-finals of the Asean U23 Championship (Mandiri Cup) at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Friday night.
Head coach Thawatchai Dumrong-ongtrakul admitted his players did not impress with their performance in the group stage, which saw the team beat Timor Leste 4-0 and draw 0-0 with Myanmar.
"We won Group C in the preliminary round, but our form was not that good and there are many things we need to improve and adjust," said Thawatchai during a pre-match press conference on Thursday.
"I think the players will perform better in the semi-final against Indonesia. We have come this far in the tournament and we must be ready both mentally and physically to face a good team like Indonesia."
He continued, "Indonesia are a good team. We expect a lot of home fans in the stadium for tomorrow's [today's] match and I know the players will be under a lot of pressure but it will be a good experience for all of them. If they come through this match, they will be stronger in future international tournaments," he added.
Team captain Seksan Ratree said, "I am very happy that the team qualified for the semi-finals and as the coach said our form is still not good enough and we hope that tomorrow [today] will be a good day for our team."
Vietnam and the Philippines will face off in the other semi-final. The match between Thailand and Indonesia will kick off at 8pm and will be live on Thai Rath TV, BG Sports, AIS Play and True Visions Now.
