Thailand go into the second leg of their Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 semi-final against the Philippines at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium Monday night knowing that only a victory can earn them a shot at defending their title.
The War Elephants have found themselves trapped in a tight corner after conceding a last-gasp goal in Manila to lose to the Azkals 2-1 on Friday night.
The home team's chances of marching into the two-leg final of the Asean championship would also depend on their ability to hold the Philippines goalless Monday night.
Sandro Reyes' opening goal for the home side was cancelled out by Suphanan Bureerat just before the break on Friday night, but the Philippines, searching for their first-ever win over Thailand, secured a famous victory when centre-back Enrique Linares scored a 95th-minute winner in the final seconds of the contest.
Thailand coach Masatada Ishii told a pre-match press conference on Sunday that his men would go all-out in Monday night's game to beat the Philippines.
"It's a pity that we lost the first leg, so now we have to find a way to bounce back," said the Japanese tactician.
"The things that we have done well, we will try to do them better although we haven't had any real time to train.
"We have trained for a long time to avoid conceding goals. We have watched the clips of the first game and talked about this issue once again in the team meeting. Every player has to try to improve so that we do not concede goals like we did in Manila.
"Our main target is to select the players who can help us win the home leg tomorrow night.
"We are in a situation now where the Philippines have the advantage simply because we conceded a goal in the last minute of the first leg.
"We may have lost the game in Manila but if you look at details, we had some good points which give me confidence that we will produce a good result in the home leg."
Thailand centre-back Chalermsak Aukkee said at the same news conference that he and his teammates were determined not to concede any more goals from set-pieces.
"In the team meeting, we looked at the mistakes that made us concede the goals in the first match," said Chalermsak.
"After the first match with Timor Leste, the opposition has become stronger. We have some new players in the team, so the going hasn't been easy.
"I realise that our loss to the Philippines on Friday night may have hurt the feelings of our fans, but I want to tell them that every team member has had the same feeling. I am hoping that the Thai fans will come to the venue and cheer us as always. This time, we need their support."
The match between Thailand and the Philippines will kick off at 8pm Monday night and will be televised live by Thai Rath TV (32), AIS Play, TrueSport 2 (667) and the BG Sports Channel on YouTube.
