Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Sport
TOR CHITTINAND

Tougher test awaits hot Thais

Thailand coach Milovan Rajevac, second left, shakes hands with Trinidad and Tobago manager Dennis Lawrence as goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool, left, looks on during a press conference yesterday.

Thailand coach Milovan Rajevac wants the War Elephants to forget about their 1-0 win over Hong Kong in an away friendly on Thursday night and focus on tomorrow's home clash with "stronger" Trinidad and Tobago.

The international 'A' match in Suphan Buri will also serve as a testimonial for Thai League 1 side Suphanburi star Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool and Rajevac yesterday promised to name the veteran goalkeeper in his starting line-up.

The match will kick off at 7pm at Suphanburi's home ground and will be televised live by Thairath TV.

"It will be Sinthaweechai's testimonial match and so he will be in the team for sure," said Rajevac.

The Serbian coach added: "Our three J1 League players -- Theerathon Bunmathan, Teerasil Dangda and Chanathip Songkrasin -- are here to honour Sinthaweechai, so they will be featuring in the match as well."

Rajevac said he was expecting a tougher battle against Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow.

"They [Trinidad and Tobago] are much stronger than Hong Kong," he said.

"They are from the Concacaf zone. Their players have speed and move the ball around very well, so it should be an interesting match.

"They beat the United States and ended their chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. They have defeated the United Arab Emirates [UAE] as well.

"I am happy that we won against Hong Kong on Thursday night and I have congratulated the players on their victory, but they'll be better off if they forget about that friendly.

"I expect the pace of the game to be higher in the match with Trinidad and Tobago and there won't be many long balls.

"This is a great opportunity for us to show to the world that we can perform against teams with different styles."

About the game with Hong Kong on Thursday night, Rajevac said: "It was a good test for the team because their players are tall and they tried to use long balls to upset us.

"I think it was a very useful game for those who either played for the senior national team for the first time or returned to the side after a long absence.

"I am not worried about our attacking game. We only had a few days to prepare for these matches and not much can be gauged from one friendly.

"We will be definitely better prepared when the time comes for the the AFF Suzuki Cup and AFC Asian Cup tournaments."

Meanwhile, Suphanburi goalkeeper Sinthaweechai said: "This is one of the biggest games of my life and also a great honour for me. I hope that the fans will enjoy the match.

"Football has been everything for me for such a long time, so it isn't easy to walk away from the national team forever."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.