Jankovic apologises after rout
Coach Zoran Jankovic apologised to Thai fans after his young War Elephants ended their AFC U23 Championship campaign in an embarrassing fashion with a 5-1 defeat to Palestine yesterday.
The team will return from China without a single point, having lost to North Korea and Japan in their first two Group B games.
Palestine needed just over half an hour to take a 4-0 lead with goals from Mohanad Fannoun (15th minute), Oday Dabbagh (26), Mahmoud Yousef (30) and Mohamed Darwish (32).
Thailand striker and captain Chenrop Samphaodi pulled a goal back just before the interval.
It was Thailand’s only goal of the tournament.
Shehab Qumbor completed the rout two minutes before the final whistle.
The victory saw the Palestinians secure second place on goal difference from North Korea, who were defeated 3-1 by Japan, and confirm a last-eight meeting with Qatar on Friday.
“I am disappointed by the scoreline,’’ Jankovic said.
“I’d like to apologise to everybody for the team’s failure.”
He added: “We tried to play with a strong backline because we knew Palestine needed to score goals and win [to go through]. We made many mistakes, and those mistakes were our biggest problem.
“I tried to give my best for this team. This team has good players and we need to look after them in the future.”
About his future as coach of the Thai U23 side, Jankovic said he would discuss the matter with Football Association of Thailand (FAT) bosses.
“There were several factors [behind the failure],” he said.
After the first two losses, FAT technical chief Witthaya Laohakul was apparently upset.
“The boys played well, but we got the tactics all wrong,” Witthaya said.
Palestine coach Ayman Sandouqa said: “I am proud of my players — they showed a great level of maturity. We controlled the match throughout the 90 minutes.
“We were also very good at converting our chances.”