Ghosts of past will haunt Thailand in Malaysia
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Former national football team coach Chanwit Pholcheewin has warned that defensive lapses could sink Thailand when they visit defending champions Malaysia for the first leg of the Asean Championship semifinals on Sunday.
Three-time champions Thailand stormed into the last four of the biennial tournament as Group A winners with a perfect record, scoring nine and conceding only two goals in three group matches including a 3-1 victory with their second-string side over 2008 champions Vietnam.
Winning the group should have meant an easier path to the final for the Thais, coached by German trainer Winfried Schaefer. However, by a quirk of fate, they face old foes Malaysia, who contributed to Thailand’s exit at the group stage without a win in 2010.
The intimidating atmosphere of the Bukit Jalil stadium awaits the Thais in the Malaysian capital and Chanwit believes Schaefer’s men need to stay focused in defence, since any small mistake could decide the match.
Chanwit speaks from bitter experience, having seen his Thai side concede a crucial penalty to lose 21 to Singapore in the first leg of the 2007 final, which they went on to lose 32 on aggregate.
“We need to apply the ‘3Cs’ – Confidence in our play, Control over ourselves on the field and Concentration, which is crucial because there will be more than 80,000 fans in the stadium on Sunday,” said Chanwit.
“We must also try to avoid putting ourselves at the mercy of officials. For instance, we should not rely too much on the offside trap or allow opponents to run deep into our penalty area. We don’t know what decisions the referee might make in such a situation.”
