Hermans proud of Thai team despite defeat
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Thailand's futsal team coach Victor Hermans says his players have only themselves to blame for their crushing 6-1 defeat to Japan in the final of the AFC Futsal Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Thais approached their second final appearance in high spirits after pulling off an extra time upset win over the 11-time champions Iran in the last four.
Winning the championship for the first time would have given them a massive boost to their confidence ahead of the Futsal World Cup at home in November.
However, the Thai team were sent crashing down to earth by a Japanese side, who showed far more composure in front of goal before clinching their second continental crown.
Kenichiro Kogure gave the 2006 winners a fourth-minute lead and after Kritsada Wongkaeo drew Thailand level in the 11th minute Wataru Kitahara restored Japan’s advantage with five minutes of the half remaining as the Japanese went into the break 2-1 up.
An error from Thai keeper Surapong Tompa led to an indirect free-kick from which Kotaro Inababa further extended Japan’s lead midway through the second period before Rafael Henmi, keeper Hisamitsu Kawahara and Tetsuya Murakami added more goals to make the final score 6-1 as Thailand’s power play backfired badly in the closing stages.
“Obviously the team is very disappointed and I had to talk to them to tell them they must be proud of what they have achieved here,” Dutchman Hermans said.
Hermans, who missed out on becoming the first trainer in the history of the tournament to lead two countries to glory after guiding Iran to the 2001 title, pointed out two incidents that contributed to his side’s demise.
“There were two key moments that I think cost us the match,” said the Dutchman.
“The first was when we couldn’t take advantage of the four versus three situation after the red card and the second was when the keeper held on to the ball for longer than four seconds.”
Hermans revealed he had a nagging feeling that at some stage during the tournament the wheels would come off of Thailand’s impressive continental campaign and unfortunately for the Asean champions, it came in the final match.
“At 2-1 and 3-1 the spectators saw a very entertaining game but after that I had the feeling we were not going to win. At the end it seemed like every shot went in but as a coach sometimes I have to take risks.”
Despite the defeat, Hermans said his side could return home with their heads held high after an impressive display in Dubai.
“Maybe we gave too much in the game against Iran yesterday but we must be proud of the way we played. This tournament was tremendously helpful in boasting the confidence of our young players.”
