Rajevac Hopes for Better
Milovan Rajevac took the Tuesday’s friendly game against Uzbekistan as a lesson for future after his first task as the Thailand’s national coach was spoiled with a 0-2 defeat to the home team at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Almaty on Tuesday.
The Rajevac side paid the price for a lack of several Muangthong United stars and limited training of Chiang Rai United players, conceding two goals during the second half in a warm-up for the next week’s World Cup Qualifiers.
“Of course it was not pleasant to lose the match. We have to learn from this and use it as an experience for our challenges in the future,” said the 63-year-old Rajevac who succeeded his predecessor Kiatisuk Senamuang in April.
After a scoreless first half, the world No 62 Uzbekistan struck the first blood in the 68 th minute by substitute Abdukholikov Temurkhuja before Rashidov Sador added the second goal for the home team during the injury time. Thailand came close to several scoring opportunities but failed to convert any of them.
“Today we had chances but it was not a good performance from our team. If we used our chances we could draw level from this match. But this is just the beginning. We have to learn from this to improve our team in the future,” said the Serbian who during his first day in the office promised would take Thailand to the World Cup Finals just like he spearheaded Ghana to that stage seven years ago.
“Our primary target is to build the new team for the future, for the next World Cup qualification campaign. We want to improve the level of standard of the national team so that they can compete with all teams,” added the former Borac Cacak striker.
The Thai national squad returns homes this morning to prepare for the home game against the United Arab Emirates in their World Cup Qualifiers against the at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on Tuesday.
