Kiatisak retains youthful squad for King's Cup

The four-team competition, which runs from February 1 to 7, is the first since former national striker Kiatisak led Thailand to their fourth Asean Championship title by clinching a 4-3 aggregate win over Malaysia in the final last month.

The 41-year-old, who last week inked a four-year contract to manage Thailand on a reported seven-figure salary, yesterday announced his squad for the annual tournament featuring Croatia, South Korea and North Korea.

As expected, the talismanic Kiatisak, who became the first person to win the Asean title as both player and coach, retained nearly all the youthful side that matched Singapore as the most successful team in the biennial event.

Thai-Swiss midfielder Chappuis and diminutive Chanathip, two of the team’s outstanding performers in the Asean triumph, headed the list for this month’s event, while strikers Sompong Soleb and Kirati Kiewsombat were among those omitted. Forward Teerasil Dangda, whose future at Spanish La Liga club Almeria, where he is on a season-long loan, recently became the subject of media speculation, was overlooked yet again.

The Thai coach revealed he focused on continuity in selecting his squad for the King’s Cup, which takes place at His Majesty the King’s 80th Birthday Anniversary Stadium in Nakhon Ratchasima. 

“The door is still open for other players to make the team for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Those who perform well still have the chance of a call-up. But for the King’s Cup I want to see continuity, so I opted to pick the players from the Asean Championship-winning side. 

“That will give us continuity in preparations for this year’s Asian U-23 Championship, which will serve as an Olympic qualifying event,” said Kiatisak, who made his name as national coach with successes at the under-23 level at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar and last year’s Asian Games.