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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Sport
TOR CHITTINAND

Thais announce squad for Asian U23 meet in China

The War Elephants, led by Chenrop Samphaodi, depart for China on Wednesday to take part in the AFC U23 Championship, which will be held from Jan 9-27.

The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) on Monday announced the final 23-man line-up for the biennial Asian youth tournament.

Thailand have been drawn in Group B and face defending champions Japan, North Korea and Palestine in the first round.

The selected players have been directed to report to the team officials today before their departure for Shanghai tomorrow.

The U23 team will be training at Jinshan Sports Centre in Shanghai until Jan 6 and will have a warm-up game with Australia.

Thailand U23 team's assistant coach, Worrawoot Srimaka, said yesterday he was expecting the squad to put on an impressive show in China.

"The team are 80-90% ready for the tournament," said Worrawoot.

"Zoran Jankovic [the head coach] will give the team a better insight into the tactics when we are in Shanghai.

"He has the plan ready for first match against North Korea on Jan 10. We played against them at the M-150 Cup in Buriram last month and know their tactics."

Thailand finished fourth in the warm-up tournament in Buriram, where Uzbekistan took the top honours, edging Japan 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out in the title match.

Worrawoot added: "I am sure that the team will be 100 percent ready before the tournament gets underway.

"We have a warm-up game with the Australian U23 team, which should help us fine tune our tactics before the first round matches."

Thailand will face Japan in their second match on Jan 13 and take on Palestine three days later.

Thailand reached the final stage of the AFC U23 Championship after finishing in second place behind Malaysia in a qualifying tournament in Bangkok in July last year.

Buriram stadium renamed

Chang ARENA will be the new name for the home of Thai League 1 champions Buriram United, the club announced late Sunday.

The announcement was made by club president Newin Chidchob on New Year's Eve. The venue was previously called I-Mobile Stadium.

"Buriram United have had many successes and made many fans over the past eight years. Chang has always been our loyal partner throughout our journey and we hope to continue our successful partnership," said Newin.

"We will be better and win more titles," he added.

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