Thailand coach Akira Nishino urged his men to improve the level of their game after the War Elephants were held to a 2-2 draw by a Thai League All-Stars team in a friendly match at Rajamangala National Stadium on Saturday.
The national team, missing stars from some of the top Thai League 1 sides, were heading for a win but conceded an equaliser in the dying moments.
The War Elephants got their first goal in the 20th minute when Jaroensak Wonggorn's corner was headed into the bar by Nattawut Suksum. The rebound fell into the right place for Manuel Tom Bihr to score from close range.
The All-Stars cancelled out the national team's advantage in the 45th minute with Barros Tardelli making most of a cunning pass from Ricardo Santos.
The War Elephants regained their edge 20 minutes into the second half when they had another stroke of luck.
Sarach Yooyen's short cross from the left found Jaroensak, whose low drive was blocked by Thitiphan Puangjan. Once again, the ball rifled back to an unmarked Panupong Polsa, who planted it into the net without any trouble.
The All Stars equalised again with John Baggio setting up Leandro Assumpcao with a calculated through ball three minutes from time.
Nishino said after the match he was "not too pleased with the result.
"Obviously as a coach I wanted to win this match. The players will have to move to a higher level before we take part in the [2022] World Cup qualifiers and the Suzuki Cup next year."
However, the veteran Japanese coach added that there were some positives from the draw.
"A number of players are new and we only spent a few days together," said Nishino.
"It was encouraging to see the players combine effectively on so many occasions during the match.
"The All-Stars changed the entire team after the break and that gave them some advantage.
"We did put up a fight and went for a winner until the very end of the match."