INCHEON - Thailand will be trying to win their first ever Asian Games medal in football on Thursday when they meet Iraq in the third-place play-off of the men’s competition.
Thailand striker Adisak Kraisorn, left, in action against South Korea. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
The match at Incheon Football Stadium will kick off at 3pm Thai time.
“The match is very important to our team,” Thailand coach Kiatisak Senamuang said on Wednesday.
“We want to win the bronze medal.”
Thailand have finished fourth three times at the Asian Games.
At Incheon, Thailand lost 2-0 to hosts South Korea while Iraq were defeated 1-0 by North Korea after extra time in the semi-finals of the under-23 tournament on Tuesday.
Thailand should be at an advantage because Iraq played 120 minutes against the North Koreans but Kiatisak dismissed the suggestion.
“We will not be at an advantage because the fitness levels of every team are good,” Kiatisak said.
Midfielder Charyl Chappuis, one of Thailand’s most outstanding players in Incheon, said he and his teammates were looking forward to the third-place play-off.
“We will try to win the bronze medal,” said the Thai-Swiss player.
Striker Adisak Kraisorn needs a late fitness test but Pinyo Inpinit, Pakorn Prempak and Chanathip ‘Messi J’ Songkrasin are available for today’s match.
“We come here for success and we will field our strongest side,” said Kiatisak.
He said he would take a break after the Incheon Games and would not be coach of the full national team for the Suzuki Cup (Southeast Asian championship) in November.
“I want to give my family more time. I will not coach the Suzuki Cup team,” Kiatisak said.
Kiatisak, who guided the under-23 team to win the SEA Games gold medal last year, has reportedly been approached to coach the full national team by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).
“I want to take a break. I have worked very hard for the national team in the past two years,” he said.
“I will come back to football management in the future but at the moment I don’t know which team I will coach.”
Meanwhile, Japan has protested to Asian Games organisers after the image of a Korean hero who assassinated a senior Japanese official a century ago was shown in a stadium, officials said.
The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) acted after fans unveiled a large banner showing Ahn Jung-Geun when South Korea beat rivals Japan 1-0 in the men’s football quarter-finals on Sunday.
The banner was another sign of the lingering anger over Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Ahn is considered a hero for killing Hirobumi Ito, Japan’s first prime minister and its top official in Japanese-occupied Korea, during a visit to China in 1909.
Ahn was hanged the following year, when Korea formally became a Japanese colony.
There are numerous statues and memorials to him across South Korea. But Tokyo has condemned him as terrorist.
“In response to the JOC’s protest letter, our committee promised to prevent the recurrence of such an incident,” an official at the Asiad organising committee, IAGOC, said.
“The JOC’s protest was not so strong, and we believe it will not escalate into a major row.”
Sporting events between South Korea and Japan are often politically charged given the animosity between the two countries.
Korean player Park Jong-Woo caused a diplomatic row over a territorial dispute by waving a political flag after their 2-0 win in the 2012 Olympic bronze medal game in London. bangkok post/afp