Thailand head coach Akira Nishino says he hopes that the War Elephants’ recent poor performance against rival Vietnam will improve tonight when the two sides clash in the opening 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Thailand, once considered the ASEAN powerhouse, has remained winless against Vietnam this year throughout all their competition.
Indeed, Nishino was conservative about tonight's match at Thammasat Stadium, noting that he has not had enough time to prepare his Thai national squad.
"This will be my first game as the head coach of the Thai national team. Although I have had a very short time, I will try my best to help Thailand get the win," Nishino told a press conference yesterday.
The Japanese gave the captain’s armband to Buriram United goalkeeper
SiwarakTedsungnoen, effectively ending any chance of Belgium-based
KawinThamsatchanan to play a leading role in the match.
"I have chosen Siwarak as the new captain of the team. He has lots of international experience and is the most senior player on the team," explained Nishino.
Nishino is likely to depend on its three J-League stars -ChanathipSongkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan and Thitiphan Puangjan - in Thailand's first Group G match, which will start at 7pm.
The veteran coach, who led Japan in the 2018 World Cup, said: "I have watched plenty of tape of Thailand's game with Vietnam in the King's Cup [in June]. We were never underdogs to them, we just didn't have a good scorer.”
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