North Korea coach praises Thailand

North Korea coach praises Thailand

Teams scheduled to meet in King's Cup

Thailand defender Theerathon Bunmathan during a training session yesterday. PR
Thailand defender Theerathon Bunmathan during a training session yesterday. PR

North Korea are wary of Thailand's threat as the two teams will meet in the King's Cup tomorrow.

The North Korean team, led by Norwegian coach Jorn Anderson, arrived in Bangkok yesterday for the four-team tournament.

"Thailand are a good team. They have several young players who are good," Anderson said.

"However, I will look at the competition on a match-by-match basis and do not set a target."

The 45th King's Cup will be held at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium.

Tomorrow, defending champions Thailand face North Korea at 7.30pm and Burkina Faso play Belarus at 4.30pm.

The winners will meet in the final on Sunday while the losing teams will compete in the third-place play-off on the same day.

Thailand left-back Theerathon Bunmathan has praised national team coach Milovan Rajevac.

"It is good to return to the national team and I am learning Rajevac's tactics," said the SCG Muang Thong United defender.

"I have not yet talked to him in person but from what I have seen he is a hard-working coach," said Theerathon.

Theerathon did not play in Rajevac's first two games as coach for Thailand.

Under the Serb, Thailand lost 2-0 in a friendly at Uzbekistan and drew 1-1 with the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifier in Bangkok last month.

"I watched Thailand play in the two previous games and I feel that every player had good discipline like never before,"' he said.

"I have trained with the coach for three days and know what he wants from me.

"The King's Cup is an important tournament for us. A number of our players have won the Suzuki Cup or the SEA Games but it is meaningless for a Thai player if you have never won the King's Cup."

Meanwhile, Thai League 1 champions SCG Muang Thong United have been banned from using their home ground for one game, the Football Association of Thailand said yesterday.

The punishment was a result of their supporters behaving in an improper manner during their game against Buriram United at SCG Stadium on Sunday.

Muang Thong, who are currently second behind Buriram in the league, have offered apologies to all the parties concerned.

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