Rajevac urges players to defend King's Cup title
Thailand manager Milovan Rajevac has told his players they will need to give maximum effort if they are to complete a hat-trick of wins in the King’s Cup, which starts on Thursday at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.
The Serbian assembled his squad for the first time on Monday, although four senior players competing overseas have yet to return home.
“This is the first tournament of the year for the national team,” said Rajevac. “I want all the players to be glad to be part of the team as this is a good opportunity for them to compete against world-class players.”
Thailand will take on a star-studded Gabon team featuring three Premier League players – Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Watford midfielder Ndong Didier Ibrahim and Southampton central midfielder Mario Lemina.
“As this tournament is very important, we must play our best to defend the title. Whether we can do it or not depends on us,” added Rajevac, who has replaced the injured Adisorn Promrak and Manuel Bihr with Mika Chunuonsee and Nitipong Selanon.
Under Rajevac’s supervision, Thailand beat Belarus 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out to win last year’s tournament and Thai football boss Somyot Poompanmoung says he is expecting nothing less than a third straight triumph.
They will certainly be the stronger for the return home of Kawin Thammasatchanan of OH Leuven, Chanathip Songkrasin of Consadole Sapporo, Teerasil Dangda of Sanfrecce Hirsoshima and Teeranthon Bunmathan of Vissel Kobe.
“Nowadays we have more Thais playing overseas,” added Rajevac. “The experience from playing international leagues should benefit us in the King’s Cup.”
The Thai team had their first training session yesterday evening at Kasetsart University near Chatuchak.
