Thailand coach: 'It's the same with any opponent in the semi-finals'
Thailand beat Cambodia 3-1 in the last leg on January 2, to enter the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2022 as the winner of Group A. The next opponent of Mr. Polking's teachers and students will be the second-placed team in Group B.
The final series of Group B matches will take place at 19:30 today 3/1. Vietnam is at the top with 7 points, will take on Myanmar - the team has been eliminated. Singapore ranked second also with 7 points will have to fight on the field of Malaysia, the team has less than one point.
"Our goal is to finish the group stage with the top position to play the semi-final second leg at home. It will be the same to meet any team in the semi-finals," coach Polking said after the victory over Cambodia, refuted. Thailand's point of view tries to take the lead to avoid strong opponents in the semi-finals.
Thailand and Indonesia continuously changed positions in Group A in the last series. Thailand entered the match at the top with the same seven points as Indonesia, but ranked above thanks to a better goal-loss difference (9 versus 8). But Indonesia opened the scoring in the 21st minute of the match against the Philippines to take the lead, then consolidated with a second goal in the 43rd minute. Thailand then reclaimed the top spot when Teerasil Dangda scored a penalty kick in stoppage time. a match against Cambodia and Sumanya raised to 2-0 in the 50th minute.
The drama climaxed when Chanthea shortened the gap to 1-2 for Cambodia in the 68th minute, and Thailand was pushed to second place with the same score, the same difference but one red card over the opponent. But in the 83rd minute, the Philippines contributed to bringing Polking's army back to the top when shortening the score to 1-2 in the match against Indonesia. At the last minute of the official match, Dangda helped Thailand firmly consolidate the top position with a 3-1 scoreline.
"It was easy for the team to lose the ball in the first half. But in the second half we were able to overcome it, control the game, play to our liking and win," Coach Polking said of the victory over Cambodia. "Thailand's goal is to successfully defend the championship. We are already halfway to the semi-finals. Now Thailand will wait to see who its opponents are, analyze them and prepare well. Of course, to win the championship, the team needs to play better than they showed, especially the first half of the match against Cambodia."
Coach Polking said that Thailand's most important task at the moment is to recover well to prepare for the semi-finals. They have the advantage of getting one more day off than their opponents in Group B.
Thailand is the defending champion of the AFF Cup. They won the throne in 2021 when they won 2-0 Vietnam in the semi-finals and then defeated Indonesia 6-2 in the final.
