India outclassed us, says sacked Thailand coach

ABUDHABI: Thailand have sacked their head coach Milovan Rajevac after the humiliating loss to India in Asian Cup. The Serb, however, was effusive in his praise for the Stephen Constantine-coached side.

Rajevac, who was sacked by Football Association of Thailand hours after India’s stunning 4-1 win on Monday, said his side’s opponents thoroughly deserved to take all three points.

“They (India) absolutely deserved to win the match. For us, the first half was mostly okay, even though we conceded the opening goal after a corner of our own. In the second period, India were more aggressive, and they clearly wanted the victory,” Rajevac said.

“We underperformed after the break. At the start of the second half we conceded an early goal which forced us to open up a little as we tried to find an equaliser. The real problem for us was that we did not have a response to India’s aggressive style of play,” he said.

The Serbian, who took Ghana to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World

Cup in South Africa, was appointed Thailand head coach in April

2017. But recent failures in the

2018 ASEAN Football Federation Cup, where the five-time champions crashed out after a semifinals loss to Malaysia, caused a fan uproar. Rajevac’s assistant Sirisak Yodyardthai will take over as interim coach.

“...FA Thailand has fully supported the preparations of the national team with the intention of producing better results than before. But the result (against India) is not what is expected of the Thai national team and that oursupportersdeserve,” saidFA Thailand president Somyot Poompanmoung

CHINA WIN

ABUDHABI: China defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in a Group C Asian cup match on Monday. Kyrgyzstan opened the account through Israilov in 42nd min but it was cancelled out thanks to an own goal from Matiash in the 50th min. Yu Dabao then scored the winner for China in the 78th min.

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India absolutely deserved to win. The real problem for us was that we did not have a response to India’s aggressive style.

MILOVAN RAJEVAC, Thailand coach