Thailand coaching staff bolstered for Asian Cup
The Kingdom’s football team will wear their brand new jerseys called Changsuek (War Elephants) The First Eleven in the upcoming Asian Cup game as former SEA Games coach Choketawee Promrut has been recruited as assistant coach.
The new outfits produced by Warrix under the Combatec7 technology, also used by many world’s leading teams, have been designed under the concept called Now Or Never which is to show continuous support for the national football team after recent downfall in the ASean Cup.
“We have come up with three designs – the Player Jersey, Replica Jersey and Cheer Jersey – which are available already. The national jerseys will be worn for the first time during the Asian Cup game with India on January 6,” said Wisarn Wanasaksrisakul, managing director of Warrix Sport.
National stars including team captain Chalermpong Kerdkaew, midfielders Thitipan Puangchan, Tanaboon Kesarat and Thanasit Siriphala, and striker Sriroch Chatthong were among those sporting the 2019 jerseys for Tuesday’s media conference at Stadium One Project, Bangkok.
Meanwhile football chief Somyot Poompanmoung said former national defender Choketawee and Julio Cesar Moreno Yanez of Chile, Serbia’s assistant coach at the World Cup in Russia, had been called up to help head coach Milovan Rajevac for the Asian Cup, which will be played from January 5 – February 1 in the United Arab Emirates.
“Choketawee is quite familiar with more than 10 players in the team. Having him will help with the communication aspects between Rajevac and the players,” said Somyot.
“Julio is an expert on game and player analysis. I’m just trying to strengthen the national team in every aspect so we can live up to the expectations of the fans.”
Choketawee, who managed Thailand to the SEA Games gold medal in 2015, thanked the Football Association of Thailand for the opportunity. “I hope to use my experience to help the young players regain their confidence for the tournament,” said the 44-year-old, who was part of the SEA Games gold medal team in 1995, 1997 and 1999.
Tanaboon, who played in the AFF Suzuki Cup home game that ended with a humiliating defeat to Malaysia on the away-goals rule, hoped to redeem the nation’s pride in the Asian Cup.
“Of course there is a load of pressure out there as fans want us to do better in the Asian Cup,” he said. “We players learned our lesson and will have to play at our best to achieve our goals.”
Somyot Poompanmoung
