There is a completely different Thai team.

Thailand U23 entered the first match with the lowest confidence index of Thai fans in recent years. After a forgettable 2019 SEA Games, coach Akira Nishino gave his team a nearly 1-month break. They began their preparation campaign for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship with a 0-1 friendly defeat to Saudi Arabia U23 on January 3.

Deep magic

AFC recognized the 2002-born striker of U23 Thailand as the youngest player to score in the tournament at the age of 17 years, 5 months and 6 days. Photo: Changsuek.

A series of weaknesses of U23 Thailand were exposed and Mr. Akira Nishino and his students simultaneously admitted that they were the weakest team in Group A. Meanwhile, after the 2-1 victory over U23 Vietnam in a friendly match, coach Samir Chammam and his team were praised by Thai tradition, above both U23 Australia and U23 Iraq.

Mr. Akira Nishino immediately requested the Football Association of Thailand to organize another match to finalize the remaining issues. MOF Customs United is the team of Thai Customs, the "blue team" of U23 Thailand, "adjusting the gun" on the afternoon of January 5, exactly 3 days before the match with U23 Bahrain.

The fact that only 7,000 Thai fans came to Rajamangala Stadium to cheer for their team did not bother Coach Akira Nishino and his players too much. Right after the opening whistle, under the guidance of Coach Akira Nishino, U23 Thailand entered the match with a spirit and style of play almost similar to the Japanese team at the 2018 World Cup.

A perfect match by coach Akira Nishino and his team ended with a score of 5-0. Photo AFC

First of all, Coach Akira Nishino started with the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation, not the 3-4-3 formation he had used 2 weeks ago. Striker Supachai Jaided played the highest position, while the attacking midfielder was Supachok, born in 1998 and currently playing for Buriram United - the team that Luong Xuan Truong played for.

Senior Supachok only needed 12 minutes to help Suphanat Mueanta, the left midfielder, make history in the U23 Asian finals with the opening goal in the 12th minute. AFC recognized the 2002-born striker of U23 Thailand as the youngest player to score in the tournament at the age of 17 years, 5 months and 6 days.

Vietnamese audiences all remember Suphanat Mueanta as the youngest player to play for the Thai national team at the age of 16 years, 10 months and 3 days. The first match the young talent from Buriram played for the "War Elephants" was a 0-1 loss to the Vietnamese national team at the King's Cup 2019.

It seems that Mr. Akira Nishino was correct when he said: "Thai players have quite good basic techniques, just need to create emotions for them to play and they will score goals". The Thais decided to use through balls to punish coach Samir Chammam and his team who exposed many gaps when applying the 4-1-4-1 formation.

Win big but not "show your cards"

Coach Akira Nishino started the match with the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation, not the 3-4-3 he had used 2 weeks ago. Photo: AFC

After a few “gun adjustment” situations, Supachok Sarachat himself scored a goal in the beginning of the second half from an assist from Leeaoh, who is a central defender. With 2 goals already scored, the Thai players played a “cat and mouse” game against the opponent U23 Bahrain, an extremely annoying style of play. The Thai players played leisurely in the midfield area and then suddenly accelerated to attack the U23 Bahrain goal.

Coach Akira Nishino left out conductor Supachok Sarachat when Suphanat Mueanta completed his double by scoring the third goal for Thailand U23. The 17-year-old midfielder himself also gave way to Jaroensak Wonggorn to rest. But the Bahrain U23 players were down in spirit, so substitute player Jaroensak WonggornIt only took 5 minutes to score 2 goals, ending a resounding 5-0 victory..

Suphanat Mueanta (double), Supachok Sarachat and Jaroensak (double) were the ones who scored to bring 3 points for U23 Thailand. The surprising 5-0 victory over U23 Bahrain helped the home team take the top spot, above U23 Australia and U23 Iraq after the opening match.

A perfect match for coach Akira Nishino and his team, they did not have much possession (54%) but had 16 shots, 8 of which were on target and scored 5 goals. It seemed that the Japanese coach was creating a smokescreen in the preparation for his opponents in Group A and he succeeded.