Ten years to a place in the World Cup

This week’s resolution to get the national football team into the World Cup within 10 years fundamentally involves people who know nothing about it – kids between 10 and 15 years of age. Until now, Thailand has never had a football master plan, despite the public’s long-standing national obsession with the game. We have had several economic, social and political plans, but never before have we come up with anything remotely assembling a national agenda regarding the world’s most popular sport.
Now, mapping out the master plan will begin in earnest. Experts will gather to draw it up. Foreigners have been enlisted to help in the process. Behind the push is the country’s Football Association, under new leadership that has drawn both criticism and admiration. The FA is calling this a “Come Together” campaign, after fixing what it thought was wrong with Thai football.
It is generally believed that all the ingredients for success are there. The popularity of Thailand’s Premier League continues to grow. The national team has been dominating Southeast Asia for several years now. Fifa, football’s world governing body, will most likely expand the number of countries participating in the World Cup, the ultimate tournament, featuring teams that have come up through continental qualifying rounds.
The Thai Premier League has not only stirred and increased youngsters’ passion for the sport, but it also has intensified the scouting for local talent. 
The dominance of Buriram United FC, for example, has brought needed revenues along with a breath of fresh air to the economically depressed Northeast, and not just Buri Ram province. 
The club’s fierce rivalry with Muangthong United, one of several football giants in the capital, has led to fan trouble and refereeing scandals, both of which need to be urgently and effectively resolved, yet the competition has created opportunities and raised the level of football in the country.
The current national team are fading in a qualifying round for the 2018 World Cup, but the country’s dominance in Southeast Asia is undisputed. Big fish in a small pond, the squad are trapped between the river they rule and a red ocean where they might easily be slaughtered. The national master plan will seek to prepare the players for a war zone where only the best survive.
The good news is that the nepotism that has always hindered the national team has been considerably reduced. The bad news is that other critical obstacles remain in place, barring our national players from making the big leap forward. Those issues have to do with the players’ physical strengths, skills and tactics in competition at the highest level. The master plan will have to address these essential factors as well.
Fifa’s expansion plan, meanwhile, will boost Thailand’s chances of making their first-ever appearance at the World Cup. 
The idea is to shrink the tournament format somewhat, letting less-favoured teams enter but also subjecting them to possible quick exits. Thailand’s realistic hope is that, within 10 years, its players will be among those “less likely” squads that face the prospect of being dumped from the competition fast – but can also dream of pulling off a fairytale triumph.
A decade is a short span in the context of football. In that period only two World Cups will have been held, during which time the ultimate goal of the master plan has to be realised. What those targeted kids ages 10 to 15 need to accomplish is straightforward, but those charged with carrying out the plan face a difficult task. Just like executing goals, the implementation will have to be meticulous.