Thai football worries about losing its position in the region

U23 Thailand at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup

At the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, Malaysia U23 made history as the first Southeast Asian team to advance from the group stage, after drawing with Jordan and defeating Saudi Arabia. They only stopped when they lost to South Korea with a narrow score of 1-2 in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Vietnam U23 did even better, finishing runner-up in the tournament. Coach Park Hang Seo and his team defeated the big names Australia, Iraq, Qatar, and only lost to Uzbekistan in the final match.

Meanwhile, Thailand U23, considered the leading football team in Southeast Asia, surprised fans with their poor performance. They were the first team to be eliminated from the 2018 AFC U23 Championship with two consecutive defeats, including a heavy 1-5 loss to Palestine and a humiliating return home.

Thai football has dominated the region in the past two decades, winning almost all the SEA Games and AFF Cup championships. The Thai people have long taken the championship trophies for granted, and the reality has proven that the teams of this country do not have to spend too much effort to bring back these “collections” of titles. However, the great success of football in the region today makes the Thai people “startled” to look back.

Thailand's Siam Sport newspaper yesterday assessed that the success of U23 Vietnam and to some extent U23 Malaysia at the U23 Asian Cup helped the Thais change their way of doing football. "The rise of Vietnamese or Malaysian football is not at the youth level but also at the national team level, which has been prepared for a long time, based on the foundation of investment in youth football in these countries for many years. Vietnamese youth football has participated in the U20 World Cup, while Thailand has not, so remember that," Siam Sport wrote.

According to this newspaper, Thai football is “too confident to the point of complacency” and therefore does not fully appreciate the movement of regional football. In addition, the fact that the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) hastily handed over all teams from the Thai national team to youth teams to foreign coaches is also one of the main reasons leading to the decline of this country’s football.

Coach Jankovic resigned after the defeat of U23 Thailand

Yesterday, coach Zoran Jankovic submitted his resignation as head coach of the Thailand U23 team, after only 7 months of working there. In the letter, the strategist with dual Serbian and Bulgarian nationality stated the reason: “It is time for me to leave to hand over the head coach position to someone else. This is not an easy decision, but I believe in my decision... Thailand U23 is moving towards strong development to conquer major arenas. At this time, the team needs to overcome failure to move forward. I am very honored to lead the team and once again, I want to thank them for the time spent together.”

Not long after coach Zoran Jankovic said goodbye to the team, FAT also announced this. According to the media, assistant Worrawoot Srimaka - who led the U22 Thailand team to win the 29th SEA Games, will be appointed as the interim coach of the U23 Thailand team, while FAT looks for a replacement to prepare for the Asian Games in August.