Chanathip shrugs off striker shortage for home leg of semi
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Despite Thailand failing to score for the first time in their Asean Championship campaign on Saturday, diminutive midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin is confident his team-mates will be on target in the return leg of the semi-final against the Philippines on
Three-time champions Thailand were prolific en route to the last four, winning all three group matches to seal top spot in Group B with a total of seven goals to underline their status as favourites in the regional showpiece event.
The scoring run, however, came to the end against the Philippines, the region’s top side in Fifa world’s rankings, on the artificial pitch at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. The goalless draw handed the Thais a slight advantage ahead of the home leg at Rajamangala National Stadium.
The problem of unfamiliarity with the synthetic turf was compounded when the Thais were forced to play the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Adisak Kraisorn was shown a red card.
However, the 21-year-old Chanathip – known as “Messi Jay” by fans for dribbling skills and body size reminiscent of Lionel Messi – believes his team will have no such difficulties at the sold-out Rajamangala.
“In the first game [at Rizal Stadium] we looked uncomfortable but that wasn’t because we didn’t have a good game or the opponents pressed us well. It was mainly down to the playing surface. We couldn’t pass the ball with the same fluidity as usual, because the pitch was too ‘sticky’.
“Fans might not have been able to see it on television, but it’s the truth. When we get back to playing on natural grass in the second leg, we will hit the target for sure.”
The BEC Tero Sasana player was also unperturbed by the fact that coach Kiatisak Senamuang will be unable to call on the services of two strikers, injured Kirati Kiewsombat and suspended Adisak, for the Rajamangala fixture.
“I’m firmly behind the pair but I believe we have other players who can come in and play as well as those two. It’s up to the coach to decide who will play [as strikers] tomorrow. All I can say is that we need to win,” said Chanathip, one of the star performers when the country’s under-23 side equalled their best record in the Asian Games with a fourth spot in Incheon, South Korea, in September.
