Thailand coach Kiatisak Senamuang didn’t mince his words as he chastised the organisers for providing an under-prepared training ground for his team, who take on Indonesia in their first match of the Southeast Asian championship tomorrow afternoon (Nov 19) at the Philippines Sports Centre stadium.
Thailand, who arrived in Manila on Wednesday (Nov 16), have been assigned the Makati University stadium as their training venue.
The training stint didn’t get underway on time as the ground staff took time to trim the long and untended grass at the venue, but still left the blades longer than the normal standards.
Kiatisak said, “I don’t understand why the hosts have arranged such a substandard training ground for the Thai team.
“We are in a tournament and they should have arranged a better place than this. We are lucky that none of the players have been injured while training here. I hope that they will fix it before our next practice.”
Commenting on tomorrow’s match, Kiatisak said: “Indonesia were banned by Fifa for two years and we don’t have much information on their team. They look hungry but they haven’t played international football for a long time.”
Indonesia were banned by Fifa for its government’s interference in the country’s league.
Kiatisak added, “We have to get three points from the first match otherwise it can affect the players’ confidence
An encouraging show in the World Cup qualifier against Asian champs Australia on Tuesday (Nov 15) also convinced Somyot that the team have rediscovered their form just in time for the Asean Championship.