Kiatisak's next challenge: to turn around Thai team's fortunes in Suzuki Cup

Rising as high in the world rankings as 43 in September 1998, Thailand later went into a prolonged slump, plumbing to a new low of 165, the lowest position since global rankings were introduced.

That is still not as bad as the fact that the Thai side, long regarded as front-runners in the region, has become the eighth lowest team in Southeast Asia, finding themselves even behind the Philippines, who not so long ago were the whipping boys.

Thailand’s poor run of form since winning the Asean Championship in 2002 has led to this slide. Their cause was not helped by the decision not to play international matches on dates given by Fifa, soccer’s world governing body.

However, there were signs last year that things would take a turn for the better when former national striker Kiatisak, affectionately called “Zico” by fans and the media, made his first foray into international coaching.

First drafted in as a interim coach in place of German trainer Winfried Schaefer, the 41-year-old made a big splash in his first game by guiding the Thai side to a shock 5-1 away win over China in a friendly last June.

Kiatisak then helped the country’s under-23 side win its first SEA Games title in six years, their 14th overall, in Myanmar in December before leading the same team to equal their best result in the Asian Games by finishing fourth in Incheon, South Korea, two months ago.

Unfortunately, the impressive showings at both tournaments were not taken into account in calculating the Thai team’s place in the world rankings, as those two events were not endorsed by Fifa. Otherwise, the Thais would have found themselves in a far higher place than they are now.

But no one argued when the Thai FA decided to hand Kiatisak, who had a relatively indifferent coaching career at club level, a permanent job in charge of the national side shortly after the Incheon Games, given his stunning achievements with the U-23 side.

Kiatisak’s immediate task is to help the country reclaim the Asean Football Championship after their last triumph more than a decade ago. After a honeymoon period with the U-23 team, now comes the time for real business at a biennial event where every win will be of more importance in terms of improving the team’s world ranking.

With a competitive field, winning the championship, now known as the Suzuki Cup, is by no means easy for the three-time champions Thailand. The proof is that high-profile coaches like Peter Reid, Bryan Robson and Schaefer have come and gone without acheiving any meaningful success. Should Kiatisak succeed where others failed, it would further strengthen the belief that he is the man the country has long looked for.