Hopes high, and fingers crossed, for 2019

Hopes high, and fingers crossed, for 2019

Fresh challenges await the War Elephants this year but the FAT officials' biggest task remains building a wider talent pool to meet the country's future needs, writes Hanif Hassan

Chanathip Songkrasin acknowledges the audience after receiving the FAT's best men's player of the year award. photo: VARUTH HIRUNYATHEB
Chanathip Songkrasin acknowledges the audience after receiving the FAT's best men's player of the year award. photo: VARUTH HIRUNYATHEB

The year 2018 was an eventful one for Thai football -- one with a bucketload of heartbreaks -- and many of the country's sports fans will be happy that it's history now.

The New Year has heralded and it will for sure unfold a new set of challenges for the national team stars and the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) officials.

The War Elephants and their coach Milovan Rajevac must have learned their lessons from the disastrous 2018 which ended with a shock semi-final exit from the Suzuki Cup at the hands of Malaysia.

One hopes that the injury-time penalty missed by Adisak Kraisorn in the second and home leg of the semi-final on the night of Dec 5, which shattered the Thais' dream of defending their regional crown, will only prove to be a watershed moment for Thai football.

Here is a look at what is in store for the Thai football in 2019.

AFC Asian Cup

The national team are in the United Arab Emirates where they will kick off their 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign tonight, appearing in the tournament after a long lapse of 12 years.

National team coach Milovan Rajevac, left, and FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang.

The squad announced by Rajevac for the quadrennial Asian championship does not carry many surprises and has seen the return of a good number of the old guard, some of whom had a year to forget with their clubs in 2018.

Among those who missed the last month's Suzuki Cup for varying reasons, crafty playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin's inclusion in the team gives the Thai fans a real reason to stay upbeat.

Chanathip was in stellar form for his J1 League club Consadole Sapporo last season.

Not many had expected him to cement his place in the starting line-up of the Japanese club, but the talented Thailand midfielder ended up becoming the first Thai ever to be named among the best 11 of the Japanese league the 2018 season.

Dubbed 'Messi Jay', the Nakhon Pathom native was also name the FAT's men's player of 2018.

Thailand play their opening Group A game against India of the 2019 Asian Cup tonight. The War Elephants will play their second match against Bahrain on Jan 10 and their last first-round game will be against the UAE on Jan 14.

The Thais do have a chance of reaching the knockout last 16 stage of the tournament and making any further progress in the tournament will definitely serve as the tonic the country's ailing football scene has been seeking for some time.

It could be Rajevac's last tournament as coach of the Thai national team as FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang says he will be sacked if the War Elephants fail to get past the group stage.

The King's Cup

The prestigious tournament has been a prominent fixture on the Thai sports calendar for decades.

The FAT has succeeded in elevating its standard by shifting it to March, making it coincide with the international Fifa break.

The tournament has so far failed to attract the big names of world football but it has played a significant role in helping the Thai national teams improve their standard.

While no plans for the 2019 King's Cup have been announced by the FAT so far, it is once expected to be at the same time of the year and hopefully with better teams.

Thailand lost 3-2 to Slovakia in the final last year.

Fifa Women's World Cup

Thailand have once again qualified for the centrepiece event of women's football, which will take place in France from June 7-July 7.

The Chaba Kaew have been drawn in a tough group, which includes defending champions the United States, for the first-round action. The other two teams placed in Group F are European giants Sweden and first-timers Chile.

Thailand coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian and manager Nualphan Lamsam are aware that their strong opponents "definitely have a lot more experience than us at this level".

However, both aim for Thailand to advance to the second round after their creditable results at the 2015 finals when they suffered two 4-0 losses against powerhouses Germany and Norway and beat fellow debutants Ivory Coast 3-2.

Nuengrutai and Nualphan will be hoping that Thailand will avoid the fate they faced at the 2018 Asian Games when they had a great escape as they rode the coattails of other sides to make it to the quarter-finals.

The Chaba Kaew had had failed to claim a single point from their two Group A matches, losing to Japan 2-0 and to regional rivals Vietnam 3-2 as they ended at the bottom of their group.

The Thais booked a ticket to France 2019 after reaching the semi-finals at the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Jordan last year.

The SEA Games

The 30th edition of the SEA Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event, will be hosted by the Philippines from Nov 30-Dec 11.

The FAT has appointed former Buriram United and Chiang Rai United coach Alexandre Gama to take over the helm of the national U23 team from Worrawoot Srimaka, who was sacked after the team's first-round exit at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Since Thailand will hosts the AFC U23 Asian Cup finals, which also offer three places to Asian sides in the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, Gama will not have the opportunity of testing his men and tactics in a tournament environment before the SEA Games.

Thailand, who beat Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur in the 2017 SEA Games final, will be aiming to win their fourth straight gold medal in the U22 men's football at Philippines 2019.

However, they can expect a tougher run this time as arch-rivals Vietnam finished the 2018 AFC U23 Asian Championship in second place, while Malaysia reached the quarter-finals. Thailand crashed out in the first round after suffering three losses in a row.

The host country will also be better prepared than before as they now have the services of former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson at their disposal.

Thai League 1

If Rajevac's picks for the 23-strong Thai squad for the Asian Cup are anything to go by then the race for the most coveted title in domestic football shall be a three-team affair.

Buriram United celebrate winning the 2018 Thai League 1 title.

Defending champions Buriram United, who have also qualified to the 2019 AFC Champions League group stages, have contributed five members -- the same as True Bangkok United -- to the national team and should once again start as favourites.

Apart from Bangkok United, former champions SCG Muang Thong United should also pose a formidable challenge to the Thunder Castle following the return of Teerasil Dangda and Theerathon Bunmathan to the club for the new season.

Bangkok United and Chiang Rai United will also be active in the AFC Champions League but need to qualify for the group stage through play-off battles.

It remains to be seen whether big-spending Chaing Rai United will be able to become a genuine contender for the league title.

The Beetles have been the 'Cup Kings' over the past few years as they reached both the FA Cup and League Cup finals in the previous two years.

They won the FA Cup in 2017 and 2018 and the League Cup last year, and were runners-up in the League Cup in 2017.

Concerns for future

While Chanathip was winning over the hearts of the Japanese football fans, Teerasil and Theerathon were busy warming the substitutes benches at the respective clubs in the same league.

They are very much part and parcel of the national team with Teerasil being appointed captain by Rajevac.

Both Teerasil and Theerathon are back with the Kirins because they failed to earn extensions for their loan deals in Japan.

Another name that did the rounds in the Thai media is Siroch Chatthong.

The PT Prachuap striker was ignored for the Suzuki Cup but has been recalled for the Asian Cup, another development which signifies the dearth of talent Thai football is facing at the moment.

Siroch, also known to the Thai fans as Pipo, has been a big flop for almost two years.

In his 24 appearances for the War Elephants, Siroch has managed to find the net on only three occasions.

His record has been even worse in the past two Thai League 1 seasons in which he played 31 games -- the first 21 for SCG Muang Thong United and the rest for Prachuap -- scoring only two goals.

However, for some unknown reason, Siroch has been able to cast a spell on Rajevac, who even tested him in some unfamiliar defensive roles, probably with the intention of finding a place for the Prachuap striker in the national team.

Whatever the case, Thailand need to get on with the task of building a stronger base for their future needs otherwise they might end up relinquishing their king of Asean football crown to either Vietnam or Malaysia in the not-so-distant future.

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