Thailand’s best footballer is now a star in Japan. EPL next?
Re: “Double joy for Chanathip”, Sports, December 20.
Superb! Thailand playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin has won national awards in two days in two countries.
He was voted Best Men’s Player of the Year at the Thailand FA Awards in Bangkok on Wednesday. That made it a double celebration for the 25-year-old Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo player, who on Tuesday was picked in the Best 11 of the season at the J-League Awards in Yokohama, Japan.
Chanathip has been the Kingdom’s outstanding player in 2018 and is the first Thai to enjoy success in J-League, where he scored eight goals and made two assists in 30 games this season and helped his side to a record fourth-place finish. He is the first player from Southeast Asia to feature in the Japanese league’s Best 11 since 1993.
Chanathip got an early start in football at the age of five thanks to his father, whose role model for his son’s development was Diego Maradona, the footballing legend from Argentina.
Like Maradona, the young boy was trained to be skilful with both feet, to compensate for the advantage enjoyed by taller and physically stronger footballers. The result of that training can now be seen in his dribbling skills, which enable him to beat opponents, break through defences and set up goal-scoring chances in the best league in Asia.
In October the Consadole Sapporo playmaker was ranked second-best dribbler in the J-League by his fellow professionals.
Can he improve further and perhaps go on to become the first Thai player in the English Premier League (EPL)? The signs are good: Chanathip is only 25 and has both hunger and humility. He likes to emphasise that he needs to improve and work hard to achieve his football goals.
Chanathip was no doubt born gifted, but his unprecedented success in football comes from two decades of dedicated training, good coaching and opportunities to play in high-quality leagues. For evidence of just how good Thailand’s best footballer is, check YouTube. Scouts for EPL teams may already be clicking on his show-reel highlights.
Sutipunt Bongsununt
