Thailand national U22 team coach Issara Sritaro is happy with the way his team collected three points from their opening Group B match of the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh on Sunday but still rued the opportunities missed by his men.
The War Elephants started their campaign to wrest back the men's football crown of the Games with an impressive 3-1 victory over Singapore.
"When it comes to events like these, the most important thing is the victory," said Issara.
"But there are several things we need to improve because we allowed the opponents to attack us and also wasted lots of chances during the match.
"It is good that we have been able to spot our weak points so early in the tournament.
"I am happy with the 3-1 scoreline but it should have been more -- when you can have a clear shot at the goal then it should be a goal.
"We tried to give a chance to every player to be a part of the match.
"Singapore have a young team but they have good fighting spirit."
"To start the tournament with a win is a good thing and we will try to keep the momentum going."
Singapore U22 coach Philippe Aw said: "We conceded too early in the match and it made the game difficult.
"Actually, during the last five minutes of the first half, we scored a goal and should have equalised.
"During the interval, I told the team to try and keep the score at 2-1 as long as possible. I was hoping that we would get a chance to level the score but we ended up conceding another goal.
"I know that my team can do better than this. In the next match with Vietnam, we will play an attacking game like Thailand.
"Vietnam are a strong team but we will try to make things difficult for them.
"We still have other matches to play and will do our best."