The members of the U23 Thailand team that will participate in the Doha Cup in Qatar in the next few days are also the members that will participate in the 32nd SEA Games from late April to mid-May. The U23 Thailand team also only calls up players aged 22 and under, the age allowed to participate in this year's Southeast Asian Games .
In this squad, it is worth noting that there are a few remaining players from the 31st SEA Games held last year in Vietnam, including central defender Jonathan Khemdee (who is 1m90 tall), midfielder Airfan Doloh, or Swedish-born player Patrik Gustavsson.
Jonathan Khemdee (4) is the only remaining member of the Thailand U23 team that participated in the 31st SEA Games last year (Photo: Hai Long).
In addition, the Thailand U23 squad present at the Doha Cup includes two players who won the 2022 AFF Cup that ended earlier this year, including left-back Chatmongkol Rueangthanarot and attacking midfielder Channarong Promsrikaew.
Thailand U23 also has a player playing in Europe, midfielder Sirimongkol Rattanapoom, who is playing for OH Leuven Club (Belgium).
It can be seen that the leading role of the Thai U23 team at the Doha Cup and further at the 32nd SEA Games will belong to Channarong Promsrikaew and Airfan Doloh, the top attacking midfielders that the Thai U23 team currently has.
Coach Issara Sritaro revealed that 80 - 90% of the Thai U23 team participating in the Doha Cup will be the core of the team at the 32nd SEA Games (Photo: Matichon).
At the Doha Cup 2023, Thailand U23 will not meet Vietnam U23 in the first two matches (the third match will depend on the results of the first two matches). The young team from the Golden Temple will face Saudi Arabia on March 23, then play Qatar on March 26 (Vietnam time), but every move of the Golden Temple team needs to be watched by the Vietnamese football world.
The simple reason is that Thailand is the main opponent of U23 Vietnam on the way to the championship title of men's football at the 32nd SEA Games. What the team under coach Issara Sritaro showed at the Doha Cup can be reproduced at the SEA Games a few weeks later.
Before entering the Doha Cup, coach Issara Sritaro of the U23 Thailand side said: "Our goal when participating in this tournament is to find cohesion. Some players withdrew earlier, I called a few others to replace them, so we focus on team play."
"The current squad has about 80 - 90% of the players who can be the core of U23 Thailand in the next tournaments. I want to encourage the players, that they have potential and a promising future ahead of them" - Coach Issara Sritaro added.
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