Southeast Asia Thailand

Thai FA could reveal identity of new national team coach today

Thai national team may find out who their new coach is on Tuesday, Witthaya Laohakul, technical chief of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) revealed.

Eight coaches have been interviewed by Witthaya and his staff; the list includes Winfried Schäfer, Rene Meulensteen, Jorvan Vieira, Masahiro Shimoda, Milovan Rajevac, Dragan Talajic, Marcos Paqueta and Alain Perrin.

Frenchman Perrin, who previously coached French clubs Marseille and Lyon as well as the Chinese national team, met Witthaya yesterday.

“We had a good talk,” Perrin told Bangkok Post.

After all the meetings concluded, Witthaya said three candidates are on his shortlist.

“They all have coached teams at the World Cup finals and are not Asians,” he said.

“Everything should be ready in one or two days.”

“The new coach must be able to lift the standard of the national team and has a clear-cut playing system,” Witthaya said.

Insiders said that the three names in the shortlist are Serbian Rajevac and Brazilian duo Paqueta and Vieira.

The head coach position is vacant after Kiatisak Senamuang stepped down last month following Thailand’s heavy defeats in the 2018 World Cup qualifying round.

63-year-old Rajevac Rajevac is believed to be the front-runner, having steered Ghana to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

He has also coached Qatar and Algeria and is renowned for his discipline.

The new coach is expected to sign a one-year contract after which his performance will be reviewed.

The FAT wants the new coach to start working on May 1 to prepare the national team for their World Cup qualification match at home game against the United Arab Emirates on June 13.