Teenage Suphanat Mueanta scored two goals in the War Elephants' 2-2 draw with Tajikistan in a warm-up game on Saturday night to stake a claim for selection as the first-choice striker for Thailand's three remaining second round Asian qualifying matches for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Thailand are scheduled to play their first game of the Doha 2022 qualifiers against Indonesia on Thursday in Dubai, before taking on the hosts UAE on June 7 and Malaysia on June 15.
The War Elephants were to meet Uzbekistan in another friendly late last night with head coach Akira Nishino looking to plug in a porous defence that allowed Tajikistan to rally from 2-0 down and salvage a tie.
The two sides shifted gears after a dull goalless first half.
The Thais picked up their first goal of the night through a spectacular shot from Suphanat in the 54th minute and the young Buriram striker tapped home a Sumanya Purisay cross from the baseline seven minutes later to make it 2-0 for the War Elephants.
However, Tajikistan regrouped and their efforts saw Ehsoni Panshanbe reduce the margin to 2-1 in the 65th minute.
Thailand were left with 10 men five minutes later when Paween Tantatemi was booked for a second yellow-card offence and sent off, which let Tajikistan equalise in the 89th minute when a calculated long shot by Islom Zoirov landed in the Thai goal.
Suphanat said after the match it was a tough game for the Thai team.
"The Tajikistan players are very tall and strong, but we did well today," he added. "I am hoping to be a part of the team playing the three World Cup qualifiers, but it all depends on the coach."