Coach Kiatisak wants contract finalised before Asean campaign
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National soccer team coach Kiatisak Senamuang is hoping to ink his contract with the Football Association of Thailand before his charges depart for Singapore for the forthcoming Asean Championship.
Having verbally agreed last month to lead the national senior side at the biennial tournament, from November 22 to December 20, the 41-year-old wants to cement his deal with the FA before the regional tournament kicks off.
“I have no concern about the contract with the Thai FA because we all agreed in principle to work together. It’s just a question of when the association are ready to offer me a contract. I still believe it will happen before the team leaves for Singapore.”
Former national striker Kiatisak, whose side are currently training in Nakhon Ratchasima, revealed that he was now working against time to get his men ready ahead of their opening Group B game against defending champions Singapore on November 23.
“We only have a couple of weeks to prepare the team for the competition so we need to train hard with double sessions each day. We have very little time to prepare. Actually we should have started preparations two years ago directly after the last edition.
“We haven’t won this tournament for more than a decade. Our regional rivals, meanwhile, have been preparing for more than a year,” said Kiatisak, who led the national under-23 side to fourth spot at the recent Asian Games in South Korea.
Thailand have been drawn in Group B along with Myanmar, 2010 winners Malaysia and titleholders Singapore, while Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Laos are in Group A, whose matches will be played in Vietnam.
