THAILAND
Head Coach: Zoran Jankovic
Player To Watch: Jakkit Wachpirom
The side that won the gold at last August’s SEA Games are somewhat far off from the standard of football in other parts of Asia. This was evident during the M-150 Cup, where Thailand showed defensive frailty amongst a number of issues that need to be addressed ahead of this tournament.
On a positive note, Zoran Jankovic’s men did impress on home territory, notching a 2-1 win over Japan and a narrow 0-1 defeat against DPR Korea. That experience should help the Thais deal with these rematches under much higher stakes.
“I’m confident of beating DPR Korea in the first game because we played them in the M-150 Cup,” Jankovic said. “Similarly, if we play the same way we did against Japan, we can definitely beat them again. I think my team is ready.”
Trivia!
Thai star Jakkit Wachpirom was recently voted into Football Tribe’s Top 20 Players in Southeast Asia. He was placed 11th after becoming the first Thai player to score in the J.League last December as a member of FC Tokyo U-23.