Having just competed in the SEA Games, the Thai U22 player had to return to his club.

(Dan Tri) - After the 6-1 victory over U22 Timor Leste on the evening of December 3, Coach Thawatchai said that several key players of U22 Thailand will have to return to their clubs, then they will return to the national team before the match against U22 Singapore.

Head coach of the Thailand U22 team, Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul, shared his thoughts after the 6-1 victory over Timor-Leste in the opening match of Group A at the 33rd SEA Games.

He began: "First of all, I would like to thank the clubs for their cooperation and acceptance of players joining the national team to serve the country at the SEA Games. That helped us have a strong force and achieve good results. The first half was not easy. We met Timor-Leste in Indonesia and it was not a simple match either."

Head coach of the Thailand U22 team, Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul, (Photo: FAT).

Coach Thawatchai said that even though Thailand took the lead, their opponents still caused many difficulties: "We once beat them 4-0 in Indonesia. Today, Timor-Leste played very aggressively and pressed hard. We were lucky not to concede many goals and they only scored one goal at the end of the first half. In the second half, when we changed the attacking personnel, the team scored many more goals."

Regarding the direction for the road ahead, he said: "The plan remains the same. I have worked with the clubs, some teams are still playing during the week and some players need to return to training with the club. Both Kokana and Iklas are key players for the club. We are trying to take precautions, but there are still risks. When we play more regularly, I believe that in the next matches, including the semi-finals and the final, our play will be better and more balanced."

Coach Thawatchai emphasized the importance of rotation: "We have to calculate our strength before the match against Singapore. We cannot be subjective. Even though we won big today, we are not playing just to get three points but also want to bring a beautiful match to the audience, especially with a young and eager squad."

Some U22 Thailand players will return to their clubs after the first match at SEA Games 33 (Photo: FAT).

He thanked the fans and leaders of Thai football: "Rajamangala Stadium is very big but today it was not empty. Thank you for coming to cheer. I believe the audience will be even larger in the next matches. Thank you to the President of the Football Association of Thailand, Ms. Nualphan Lamsam, for visiting, encouraging the team and giving the players a bonus of 500,000 baht (about more than 400 million VND). I am very grateful for that support."

The next match of U23 Thailand at SEA Games 33 will take place at 7:00 p.m. on December 11, against U22 Singapore at Rajamangala National Stadium.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vua-thi-dau-o-sea-games-cau-thu-u22-thai-lan-da-phai-tro-lai-clb-20251203232559188.htm