Worrawoot has ‘best team’ for U23 event
Thailand coach Worrawoot Srimaka said yesterday he had the “best squad” for next month’s AFC U23 Asian Cup.
Worrawoot has called up 30 players and a large number of them, including Thanawat Suengchitthavon, Marcel Sieghart and Chayapipat Supanpasuch, reported to the training camp yesterday.
The squad will be trimmed to 23 players ahead of the June 1-9 U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan.
“We have the strongest squad and it will be difficult for me to pick the [23] players,” said Worrawoot.
“We have enough time to prepare — not too much and not too little.”
At the Uzbekistan tournament, Thailand are in Group C along with South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Thailand manager Nualphan Lamsam said this is a “new era” for the team with a mixture of Thais and players with mixed races.
She said the presence of players with mixed races and foreign-based stars will help improve the team.
“I have talked to them and their families. They all look really excited to play for Thailand,” Nualphan said.
Among them are Thanawat (Leicester
City, England), Sieghart (TSV Rain am Lech, Germany), Chayapipat (Estoril, Portugal), Yannick Nussbaum (Young Boys, Switzerland), Achitpol Keereerom (Augsburg II, Germany), Ben Davis (Oxford United, England) and Nicholas
Mickelson (OB Odense, Denmark).
The team will leave for Uzbekistan on Sunday before playing Vietnam in their first game on June 2.
The Thai U23 team lost to Vietnam in the SEA Games final in Hanoi
on Sunday.
The Thai SEA Games team were coached by Mano Polking, the Thai senior team boss. Worrawoot was replaced by Polking for a one-off assignment at the SEA Games.