Thailand coach Jadet Meelarp is worried about the fitness of his players ahead of their Asean U16 Boys Championship title showdown with Australia in the Indonesian city of Surakarta.
This is the first time the Thais have qualified for the final of the event since 2019. They have won the title once in 2015.
The two finalists met earlier in the group stage of the tournament with the clash ending in a goalless stalemate.
Thailand and Australia ended their Group C games with an identical tally of seven points each with the latter topping the pool with a better goal difference.
The Thais edged Vietnam 2-1 in the semi-finals while the Australians defeated hosts Indonesia 5-3.
Jadet told a pre-match conference yesterday that his players were tired after taking part in so many games in a short span.
“We have only one day’s rest and our players look exhausted, but we are trying to get them ready for the final,” added the experienced Thai coach.
“Australia are a strong team with most of their players active in the A-League.
“Our boys have shown good resilience — we fought back to win our matches against Malaysia and Vietnam after being a goal down.”
The final will kick off at 7.30pm and will be live on NBT 2HD and the Football Association of Thailand’s Facebook page and the War Elephants’ YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, the four teams participating in the 50th King’s Cup will be Syria, Tajikistan, the Philippines and hosts.
The tournament will be held from Oct 7-15 and classified as an International ‘A’ event during the Fifa Day break.
The venue is yet to be finalised.