Confident Thailand face tough opener

Today, they take on strong Australia in their Group D opener in Brisbane.

The Thais, coached by German trainer Winfried Schaefer, were made to work hard over two legs by an unheralded Palestine side lying 157th in the world rankings before securing their passage with a nerve-jangling 3-2 aggregate victory.

With the real business starting now, the former Cameroon coach is under no illusion about the scale of the task his men would face in the third qualifying round, where Oman and Saudi Arabia, traditionally one of the regional powerhouses, are the other two members in the group.

If Thailand's progress into the group stage owed much to Schaefer's coaching expertise, the 61-year-old now need to draw on his tactical nous as the Thais open their campaign against the Socceroos, the group's favourites, who have reached the last two World Cup finals in Germany and South Africa.

Certainly, an encounter against the Australians, who finished runners-up in the Asian Cup earlier this year, was a fixture few opposition coaches would have approached with relish. Even so, Schaefer, who built his managerial reputation at Karlsruher, a modest club in his home country, can take some comfort from the fact that the team's preparations were in far better state than it were against Palestine.

Having been only a few weeks into his national job, Schaefer was quickly thrown into the thick of action with the first leg at home to Palestine in July. The German's plan for the preparation was further hindered by the fact that Thailand had never played a game before since their premature exit from the Asean Championship in December.

Schaefer's cause was also not helped by injuries to several of his key players including in-form striker Sarayooth Chaikamdee, who had a prolific season with his new club Bangkok Glass, and the absence of two members of his coaching staff from the training camp.

Despite all the problems he had to contend with, Schaefer was still able to navigate his side past the gritty Palestine side to give Thai fans something to cheer about following a miserable run of results under his predecessor Bryan Robson.

Although few give the Thais a chance against the overwhelming favourites, Australia, also coached by a German trainer, Holger Osieck, there is cause for optimism in the Thai camp after smooth preparations.

Rather than arriving just one or two days before the games as in the past, the Thai team this time touched down in Australia on Monday to maximise the opportunity for the players to get acclimatised. Schaefer was confident that his men would give themselves a good account in the sold-out match at Suncorp stadium.

"Our team is ready and we are not afraid. This is a very good test. We must go out with courage. If we go out with courage, we can have a shot at a good result," said Schaefer.

Despite injury problem showing no signs of abating after first-choice keeper Kawin Thamsatchanan became the latest in the lengthy list, Schaefer believed his side was capable of at least taking a point off the Socceroos, who have high-profile players such as Everton's Tim Cahill.

He also dismissed a suggestion that his charges were the weakest in the group.

"It's good when people talk [teams down] and we'll go out and change this opinion. That's why I've come to Thailand."

The Socceroos, featuring a number of younger players alongside stalwarts such as Brett Emerton and Mark Schwarzer, will expect to shrug off the loss of injured attacker Harry Kewell.

"I think our depth is fantastic after seeing players like [Michael] Zullo, James Troisi or [Adam] Sarota come through," Cahill said.

NBT Channel will televise the match live from 5pm.