Thailand head coach Milovan Rajevac couldn’t get off to a favorable start to his reign as The War Elephants suffered a 2-0 defeat by host Uzbekistan in the friendly game on Tuesday.
After a scoreless first half with hardly any significant chance, Rajevac’s side conceded two goals by substitute Abdukholikov Temurkhuja in the 68th minute before Rashidov Sador scored another one in stoppage time.
Speaking to the press after the match, Rajevac expressed his disappointment about the team’s performance.
“It’s very difficult for us. We just started building a new team. Many Muang Thong players couldn’t be here and two players from Chiangrai didn’t train with us because they had matches in their leagues,” Rajevac said, as quoted by The Nation.
Despite the unfavorable result, Rajevac still keeps his hope of a better performance from his team during this experimenting process.
“Our primary target is to build the new team for the future, for the next World Cup qualification campaign. We want to improve the level of standard of the national team,” said Rajevac.
The War Elephants are scheduled to face the United Arab Emirates in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in Bangkok on June 13.