Thai team ready to take on champions Malaysia

The team’s manager Amorn Pongsuphan expects the match to be tough against the reigning champions but believes that the squad will make it to the gold medal match. The top two teams in the group, which also includes Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei, will advance to the semi-finals.

“Playing Malaysia is a challenge for us. However, we are more confident than ever after training in Singapore where we learnt several useful techniques. We will create chances with our fast play,” Amorn said.

The match will start at 2pm Thailand time.

Meanwhile, national football coach Worrawoot Srimaka has warned his players to expect a swift counter attack from Indonesia as both nations prepared for their match, which will be played at 3pm tomorrow.

The men’s team had a two-hour training session in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, focusing on a strategy to stop Indonesia. Worrawoot, who played for the country as a striker many years ago, predicted a tricky match. “It looks like Indonesia have done their homework and are ready with a game plan. I expect other teams to do the same. So it all comes down to which team performs on the day and adjusts to the conditions better,” Worrawoot said.

“Every team is dangerous. That’s something we have to be careful about and ready to handle. Also, we have to play five matches in seven days, which will be tough on players. They need to be really fit and recover quickly to have a chance of pulling off a gold medal,” he said.