In the opening match of AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers on Wednesday, higher ranked Thailand were stunned by a 1-1 draw to Mongolia in waterlogged conditions.
Due to the heavy rain, Thailand and Mongolia had to play on a waterlogged pitch after kick off was delayed for over an hour.
As a consequence, the Thais suffered a late penalty from the opponents, which came as a direct result of the conditions as the ball got stuck in a puddle.
After the match, despite regretting of missing out a victory over Mongolia, Thailand U-22 head coach Worrawoot Srimaka did not blame the torrential rain for deterring the performance of his team.
“The field conditions were affecting us, but I think we did not pay a lot of attention because both teams played on the same pitch. We had many opportunities but could not finish them. Finally, we were punished,” said Worrawoot, as quoted by Goal Thailand.
“I’m sorry for the bad result. We still have two games ahead,” he added.
Thailand will now need to avoid dropping any point in their next Group H games against Malaysia on Friday and Indonesia two days later to stand any chance of making the AFC U23 Championship in China in January.