Southeast Asian Football at the 2023 Asian Cup: Thailand Impresses

Defeating Kyrgyzstan, Thailand has a great chance to win a ticket to continue in the Asian Cup

Specifically, Thailand defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-0 last night (January 16), with two goals scored by striker Supachai Chaided. This was a match in which Thailand completely dominated the Central Asian team. Thailand attacked a lot and shot a lot.

Thailand defeated Kyrgyzstan in the opening match (Photo: AFC).

In addition to the two goals, they also hit the post and the crossbar of Kyrgyzstan's goal in the first half. However, it must be added that Kyrgyzstan is not a strong team. Even when Kyrgyzstan beat Vietnam 2-1 in a friendly match on January 9, right before the 2023 Asian Cup, the Central Asian team was still not highly rated. They won simply because it was just a friendly match, and neither side played their best. Before the 2023 Asian Cup, Kyrgyzstan lost 3-4 to Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, which took place in November 2023. If Malaysia can beat Kyrgyzstan in an official international match, Thailand can do the same. Before the Asian Cup, Dan Tri newspaper commented that Thailand was the Southeast Asian team with the best chance of reaching the round of 16. The reason is that Thailand is in a relatively easy group, compared to the groups of other Southeast Asian teams in this year's Asian Cup. In Thailand's group F, in addition to Kyrgyzstan, there are also Saudi Arabia and Oman. Among these, except for Saudi Arabia, the remaining teams are not too strong. Thailand can deal with Oman like it just dealt with Kyrgyzstan.

The Vietnamese team lost to a very strong Japanese team on the opening day (Photo: AFC).

Meanwhile, in Group E, Malaysia disappointed when they lost 0-4 to Jordan in their opening match on January 15. This group also includes South Korea and Bahrain, which are theoretically stronger than Jordan. Therefore, Malaysia could lose two more matches and end the group stage with a total loss. This is also what Dan Tri reporters had predicted before the tournament. Also disappointing in the opening match was Indonesia. The archipelago nation lost easily to Iraq 1-3. Indonesia's performance contrasted with the image of the Vietnamese team, although the Vietnamese team also lost in their opening match. Coach Troussier's team lost 2-4 to Japan. However, this was a match that was highly appreciated by the Asian media. They said that the Vietnamese team made a very good impression against the representative of Asia's number one football country. Compared to Thailand, the chances of the two Southeast Asian teams, Indonesia and Vietnam, advancing are not as high . However, compared to Malaysia's chances, Vietnam and Indonesia have a higher chance of reaching the round of 16. Mainly, Vietnam and Indonesia will have a chance to win at least one match in this year's tournament if they defeat their opponents in their direct match on January 19. If they win the match, Vietnam or Indonesia can hope for a wild card for one of the four third-placed teams with the best group stage results.

Watch Live & Complete Asian Cup 2023 on FPT Play, at: https://fptplay.vn/

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