Tough draw for Thais in U23 tune-up

Tough draw for Thais in U23 tune-up

Zoran Jankovic
Zoran Jankovic

Thailand U23 team have been drawn to face Japan and North Korea in the first round of the inaugural M-150 Cup, which will be held at Buriram United's I-Mobile Stadium from Dec 9-15.

The six-nation competition will serve as a warm-up competition for the AFC U23 Championship in China next year.

The other three countries -- Uzbekistan, Myanmar and Vietnam -- were placed in Group B following yesterday's draw at a Bangkok hotel.

All six participating countries have qualified for the AFC U23 Championship.

Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang, president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), said: "This tournament will give an opportunity to the Thai U23 team to not only prepare for the Asian event in China, but also for other future assignments as well.

"The U23 team are likely to form the backbone of our future national squad so such events are important for us."

Thailand U23 coach Zoran Jankovic of Serbia said the training camp for the event will start on Nov 27.

"It is a tough draw for our team, but it should be a good test for the team because we are in the same group with Japan and North Korea for the AFC U23 tournament as well. It will help us learn more about these two sides," he said.

"Japan are Asia's No.1 team and no one can deny this fact. The game with Japan will help us gauge our true standing in the continent.

"It is very important that we keep improving and try to do our best in this tournament."

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