Thailand U22 head coach Worrawoot Srimakha believes that his team need to change the playing style in the next month’s SEA Games.
“I have insisted on playing beautiful football. However, I think the beautiful football is not important anymore since we need to overcome the obstacles by all means. We have to endure the physique of the players and focus on the final results,” the former Thailand international said, as quoted by Siamsport.
On the other hand, Worrawoot expected the hardest games in the group stage of SEA Games would be against Indonesia U22 and Vietnam U22.
“The fixture is not easy for us. We have to play with greatest efforts right in the first clash against such a strong opponent as Indonesia. I think this game will be tough since they created a lot of troubles for us in the U23 Championship qualification,” he said.
“The toughest battle will be against Vietnam in the last group match. We have to play well since the first match, thus we can guarantee a slot in the semi-final even before the Vietnam game.
Our players need to maintain their focus because our opponents are Vietnam. We have never underestimated them,” the 45-year-old coach expressed his worries.
Thailand have been drawn in Group B with Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste.
The Young War Elephants will kick off their campaign against Indonesia on 15 August, play Timor Leste on August 17, Cambodia on August 20, the Philippines on August 22 and Vietnam on August 24. The top two finishers will move into the knock-out stage against their counterparts in Group A.