U.23 Thailand is not afraid of the "fire pan" Bung Karno

Coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul and captain Seksan Ratree of Thailand U.23 affirmed that they are not afraid, and even very excited to meet the host team Indonesia at the "fire pan" Bung Karno, which will be very crowded with spectators.

U.23 Thailand entered the semi-finals of U.23 Southeast Asia, but did not satisfy Madam Pang?

U.23 Thailand entered the semi-finals of the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship as the top team in Group C, earning 4 points after beating Timor Leste 4-0 and drawing 0-0 with Myanmar in the final round on July 22. The performance of U.23 Thailand so far has not really convinced the audience. This is probably the reason why Madam Pang (billionaire Nualphan Lamsam), President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), is not really excited.

Madam Pang was silent while U.23 Thailand was competing in the Southeast Asian tournament.

Photo: Contributor

On her personal page, Madam Pang has only posted one status about the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament so far, which was before the U.23 Thailand team's opening match against Timor Leste on July 19.

After the home team won the right to enter the semi-finals and meet the host team U.23 Indonesia at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, nicknamed "the fire pan", taking place at 8pm on July 25, Madam Pang remained silent and did not have any words of encouragement for the teachers and students of the U.23 Thailand team. Meanwhile, the semi-final match of the U.23 Southeast Asia between U.23 Vietnam and the Philippines took place at 4pm on July 25.

According to Thai press, this is quite a surprising action by Madam Pang, because in the past she always stood side by side and supported Thai teams competing in every regional and continental tournament.

The goal of U.23 Thailand is still to prepare its forces for the U.23 Asian qualifiers at home in September and the 33rd SEA Games at the end of the year, according to Thairath .

U.23 Thailand still hasn't created confidence when they beat Timor Leste 4-0 and drew 0-0 with Myanmar.

Photo: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

Despite being underrated, U.23 Thailand still promises to create a shock for the host team U.23 Indonesia in the semi-final. According to midfielder Seksan Ratree, captain of U.23 Thailand: "I am very excited to face Indonesia. They have a lot of fans. We are looking forward to playing in front of a large audience. I think this is the best way to face Indonesia".

Seksan Ratree is the most experienced player of Thailand U.23, with 10 appearances for the national team, scoring 3 goals. At the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament, Seksan Ratree won the title of best player of the match twice.

Coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul of Thailand U.23 also emphasized: "Actually, it is a good thing (to meet U.23 Indonesia at the "fire pan" Bung Karno). We have talked and Seksan Ratree also confirmed that playing against Indonesia will be very interesting, because they are the home team and have a large number of fans. If we want to win the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, we must beat U.23 Indonesia and overcome all unfavorable competition conditions. We must be confident in ourselves and show our best qualities".

In the group stage of the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament, the match with the largest audience so far was the match between U.23 Indonesia and Malaysia with a score of 0-0 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with 27,013 viewers on July 21, according to statistics from the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF).

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium has a capacity of over 77,000 people. It is expected that in the semi-finals when facing U.23 Thailand, Indonesian fans will buy tickets to enter the stadium, which is certainly more crowded and the number is expected to be over 50,000 people, according to CNN Indonesia.

Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-thai-lan-khong-run-so-truoc-chao-lua-bung-karno-185250723090226695.htm