Thailand coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian expects her injury-hit team will overcome their absentees and produce an improved performance in their second match of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup against South Korea in Ho Chi Minh City today.
Thailand’s Naphat Seesraum, left, vies with China’s Wu Yihan.
The Thais were hammered 7-0 by China in their Group B opener on Thursday night and Nuengrutai saw both her first-choice central midfielders leave the field with injuries in the first half against the eight-time champions.
Ainon Phancha was stretchered off midway through the half and then Naphat Seesraum limped from the pitch just before the interval.
Thailand’s woes were compounded shortly after when Naphat was replaced and China scored their fourth through Yang Li to put the tie beyond the Thais.
And they face no easy task when they come up against Yoon Deok-Yeo’s South Korean side, who crushed Myanmar 12-0 on Thursday.
“We have to check on the condition of our two injured midfielders to see if they will be fit for the game against South Korea as we just don’t know yet the severity of their condition,” said Nuengrutai.
“However, we have good replacements for those players if we need to use them so I’m sure they will do a good job too.
“Of course, facing Korea will be a difficult prospect as they are very good team, just like China. We will try and implement a defensive strategy and look to hit them on swift counter-attacks.”
Korean coach Yoon was taking nothing for granted despite the team’s thumping win in their opening tie over Myanmar.
“The opponent doesn’t matter as they are all hard teams in this tournament. Once you get to the finals of any competition every side deserves to be there, so we will not be complacent against Thailand,” said Yoon, who cited the physical rigours of the tournament as a larger concern.
“The weather here in Vietnam is very different to Korea with the heat and humidity and, in addition, there’s only one rest day. So, we will have to look and see how we prepare and how we maximise the rest day which will determine how we do against Thailand.”
The tournament is also a qualifying round for the 2015 Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada.
The top two teams of each of the two groups advance to the finals, while the two third-placed teams meet in a play-off for the other spot.
Group A features world champions Japan, Australia, Jordan and hosts Vietnam.
