Rising stars brightened Thailand's defeat, says coach Schaefer
Coach Winfried Schaefer pinpointed the left side of defence as the weak link that cost Thailand the chance of reclaiming the prestigious King's Cup.
Rather than battling it out for a trophy that has eluded them since 2007 in the final tomorrow, the Thais will be facing North Korea in an unglamorous third-place play-off, after Schaefer’s side suffered a 3-1 loss to a Mikael Forssell-inspired Finland.
The Thai team were undone by two quick-fire goals with barely a quarter of an hour gone, before former Chelsea striker Forssell put the result beyond doubt with his second goal on Wednesday night at a packed 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai.
The 62-year-old Schaefer, who is in charge for his second King’s Cup, was quick to identify the weak point that Finland exploited.
“We had a problem at left-back at the start of the game. [Weerawut Ga-Yem’s] mind was elsewhere and he made mistakes that led to us conceding two goals in quick succession. We needed to take him off,” Schaefer said of the fullback.
“We also should have done better with our set plays, particularly the moment when Arthit Sunthornphit made a mess of his delivery. More importantly, we didn’t take our chances in front of goal.”
However, the German trainer reserved praise for two of his rising stars. Midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin and defender Naruebadin Weerawatnodom, who scored Thailand’s only goal after a quick free-kick midway through the second half, were the future of the team, said Schaefer.
While pleased with the overall performance of newcomers in a team featuring a mixture of youth and experience, Schaefer also lauded the contributions of veterans such as Datsakorn Thonglao and Adul Lahso.
“The performance of many of our new players was very satisfying, while senior members like Datsakorn and Adul helped the team with their experience. We want to test these young players before we face Kuwait in the Asian Cup qualifier next month.”
