Impressive feat of Thailand team in the group stage of Asian Cup 2023

Thailand continued to impress at the 2023 Asian Cup by drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in their final Group F match, despite fielding a reserve team with 11 changes compared to their first two games.

Kỳ tích của đội tuyển Thái Lan tại vòng bảng Asian Cup 2023

The Thailand national team squad for the 2023 Asian Cup. (Source: AFC)

This result allows coach Masatada Ishii's team to confidently advance to the round of 16 as group runners-up.

This also marks the second consecutive time and the third time in history (1972, 2019, and 2023) that the Thai team has advanced beyond the group stage of a continental tournament, but their achievement at the 2023 Asian Cup is even more impressive.

The Thai team remained undefeated in the group with one win and two draws, earning 5 points and finishing second in Group F. They defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-0, then drew with Oman and Saudi Arabia both 0-0.

In the history of the tournament, no team from Southeast Asia has ever gone through the group stage undefeated like Thailand.

The Thai national team's achievement is even more impressive considering they, along with host nation Qatar, were one of only two teams to keep a clean sheet in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup.

This result will undoubtedly be a huge boost for the Thai team as they head towards the Round of 16 and face the challenge of Uzbekistan.

The match between the Thai and Uzbekistani national teams will take place at 6:30 PM on January 30th at the Al Yanub Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Speaking after the draw against Saudi Arabia, Thailand's head coach Masatada Ishii explained the reasons for changing the entire starting lineup as well as the goals the Thai national team was aiming for.

Coach Masatada Ishii said: "We have been training together for over a month and I know the quality of my players. Therefore, I am confident and brave enough to field a completely different lineup compared to the previous two matches."

The Japanese "captain" also explained the reason: "We always prepare for many different tournaments, not just the Asian Cup. The Thai national team needs to be ready for the World Cup qualifiers as well. The whole team needs to pay attention to both the long-term preparation process and the longer-term goals."

Speaking about the upcoming match against Uzbekistan, Masatada Ishii said: "The Thai national team will face Uzbekistan in the next round. However, we are not thinking about that match right now. We are only planning for each match individually, and the whole team needs to prepare as best as possible to be fully ready for the next game."

Along with Thailand, another Southeast Asian representative, Indonesia, also narrowly qualified for the Round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup.

Indonesia secured the final qualifying spot as one of the four best third-placed teams after Oman drew 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan following a regrettable late-game mistake.

Thus, the 16 teams participating in the Round of 16 are Qatar, Tajikistan (Group A), Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria (Group B), Iran, UAE, Palestine (Group C), Iraq, Japan, Indonesia (Group D), Bahrain, South Korea, Jordan (Group E), Saudi Arabia and Thailand (Group F).

With the participation of most of the strong teams, the Round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup (taking place from January 28-31) promises to be very exciting and dramatic.

The opening match of the knockout round is the game between Indonesia and Australia at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at 6:30 PM on January 28th.

The final match of the Round of 16 will be a clash between Iran and Syria at 11 PM on January 31st at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

Also in this round, the main focus is the contest between the two contenders for the championship: Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Both teams advanced from the group stage undefeated.

( according to Vietnam+ )

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