Thailand strong enough for championship: Thai coach
The Thai team arrived in Hanoi on October 23 for the Agribank Cup 2006. Thai coach Chanvit Phalajivin talked to Vietnamese reporters immediately after…
25/10/2006 00:00:00
The Thai team arrived in Hanoi on October 23 for the Agribank Cup 2006. Thai coach Chanvit Phalajivin talked to Vietnamese reporters immediately after his arrival.
The Thai team arrived in Hanoi on October 23 for the Agribank Cup 2006. Thai coach Chanvit Phalajivin talked to Vietnamese reporters immediately after his arrival.
How is the 2006 Agribank Cup different from the 2005 event?
I was also the Thai team”s coach at Agribank Cup 2005. We were not successful with that one as we had to compete with an energetic Vietnamese team with home-field advantage. This year we will play with three strong rivals including New Zealand, Bahrain and Vietnam. I would like to say thank you to the Vietnam Football Federation for giving us the chance to participate in such a high quality competition like this.
The difference is this year we came to win the championship with the award of US$40,000.
Before coming here you said Thailand would bring only young players to Vietnam and that the competition is just a rehearsal for Thai team, didn”t you?
Right, this is not our strongest team. We have decided to give our young footballers the chance to practice and gain more experience in real competition to prepare for the 15th Asian Games. The average age of all team members is 21. They did not have much experience but in contrast they are youthfully strong and have strong desire to prove their skills. Before I did not set the target of being the champion of the cup, but I want my players to beat all of their rivals. If we defeat all rivals then we will be the champions.
Do you think that you are too confident as you don”t know about the two others, New Zealand and Bahrain?
To be honest I don”t have much information about them but I know that they are not very strong competition for Thailand and Vietnam. I heard that there are U-23 footballers for the two countries.
What do you think about the Vietnam”s team? Did your colleague who is the Thai U21 team”s coach tell you any thing about SH Bank Cup recently?
I have had quite a lot of information on the Vietnam team. After the 23rd Sea Games you have lost seven important footballers including the short bur dangerous striker. Thailand and Vietnam are two teams of equal talent. Skills of Thai and Vietnamese footballers are at the same level, as I did not call up eight our backbone players so that is fair for both of us.
Thai striker Teerathep Winothai who scored three goals into Vietnam”s team”s net at the final competition at 23rd SEA Games said: SI have seen the Vietnam”s team playing many times. They are extremely strong when they are hosting. This is one of our difficulties. However in this Cup there are two other strong teams and the award is a lot of money so we have set the target to win. We are confident as Vietnam is not as strong as they used to be. They lost many good players after the last Sea Games.⬝ Thai team”s members: Two goalkeepers: Kosin Hathairattanakool, Narit Ntaweekul; Seven defenders: Suree Sukha, Prat Samakrat, Noppol Pitafai, Panupong Wongsa, Tevarit Junsom, Kiaprawut Saiwaeo, Narathong Samana Seven midfielders: Tada Keedalay, Thrithi Nonsrichai, Datsakorn Thonglao, Kittipol Papunga, Suchao Nutnum, Tana Chanabut, Kraisorn Pancharoen. Four strikers: Ekaphan Inthasen, Teerathep Winothai, Anon Sangsanol, Sutee Suksomkit. Schedule: October 25: Thailand vs Bahrain (15h10 Vietnam time) Vietnam vs New Zealand (17h30 Vietnam time) October 27: New Zealand vs Thailand (15h25 Vietnam time) Vietnam vs Bahrain (17h30 Vietnam time) October 29: Bahrain vs New Zealand (15h25 Vietnam time) Vietnam vs Thailand (17h30 Vietnam time) |
Vietnamnet
