U.23 Thailand match schedule today: Home team is not under much pressure, which channel to watch?

With home field advantage and only having to face two weaker opponents, Singapore and Timor Leste, the U.23 Thailand team is considered to have a sure ticket to the semi-finals.

U.23 Thailand is eager to regain its position

Since 2001, when the SEA Games men's football was only for U.23 players, Thailand has often shown dominance. As of 2017, the young "War Elephant" generations have won 7 gold medals out of 9 tournaments. That is dominance. But since then, Thai youth football has no longer had the upper hand in Southeast Asia. In the last 3 SEA Games, U.23 Vietnam won 2 gold medals (2019 and 2022), Indonesia won 1 gold medal (2023). Since the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament was held again in 2019, U.23 Thailand has not won a single championship.

Thailand U.23 team (right) won against Timor Leste 4 months ago

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

More broadly, in the U.23 Asian arena, Vietnamese and Indonesian youth football also surpassed Thailand. Since 2018, the best achievement of U.23 Thailand in the Asian arena was reaching the quarter-finals (in 2020) when playing at home. Meanwhile, U.23 Indonesia reached the semi-finals (in 2024), while U.23 Vietnam reached the final (in 2018) and regularly appeared in the quarter-finals (in 2022, 2024).

These statistics show the fact that Thai football is going downhill in youth training. Mr. Wittaya Laohakul, former head coach of the Thai national team and technical director at Chonburi FC, once admitted to Thanh Nien reporters that Thai League teams do not focus on youth football, except for some big clubs such as Buriram United and Chonburi.

Therefore, when playing at home, the U.23 Thailand team faces pressure to win the gold medal so that youth football can develop again. Midfielder Thanakrit Chotimueangpak affirmed: "Everything will be very difficult. We need to focus on each match. Our goal is to win the gold medal."

DIFFICULTIES OF U.23 THAILAND

Compared to U.23 Vietnam (who had a long training session and played friendly matches with strong teams), U.23 Thailand's preparation for SEA Games 33 was not as good. They practiced for many days without a full squad because some players were busy playing for their clubs. Therefore, the training programs for the players were somewhat different and lacked uniformity. For example, players who did not play for their clubs had to train harder to improve their physical strength.

The match is broadcast onFPT Play

Experienced midfielder Chanapat Buaphan also expressed caution: "I think facing Southeast Asian teams is difficult. It depends on how we deploy our tactics and how we play against each opponent. Each team has its own strengths, so we have to prepare accordingly for each match."

The sudden withdrawal of U.23 Cambodia from the SEA Games also disrupted the plans of U.23 Thailand. The host team needs more time to analyze U.23 Singapore. Buaphan revealed that the whole team has not had any tactical meetings about the team that has just moved from Group C to Group A.

These pressures and difficulties can become great pressure for the U.23 Thailand team. They become more cautious. To prepare for the 33rd SEA Games, the U.23 Thailand team held 4 training sessions, calling a total of 50 players to review, evaluate, and select the best players. Coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul shared: "Our goal is definitely to win the championship. We have not won the SEA Games for a long time. We have prepared for many months, going through many training sessions, starting from the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship in Indonesia, the U.23 Asian qualifiers in Thailand, as well as friendly matches in China and most recently with India. We have selected players that we believe are the best of this generation in Thailand."

Coach Thawatchai highly rates both Timor Leste and Singapore. However, since these two opponents are not strong enough to challenge U.23 Thailand, it is not difficult to predict that the home team will win the top spot in Group A.

The match is broadcast live on FPT Play.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-u23-thai-lan-hom-nay-chu-nha-khong-gap-nhieu-ap-luc-xem-tren-kenh-nao-185251202211641516.htm