The Thai coach admitted that his students deserved a red card
In the 62nd minute, when Thailand was leading 1-0, while trying to cut the ball to block Indonesia's quick counterattack, Sanrawat kicked Saddil Ramdani's thigh. The referee immediately drew a red card to disqualify the player who had just been substituted by Polking at the beginning of the second half.
"In that situation, my player was just greedy for the ball, not malicious," said coach Polking about the ball that pushed Thailand into a position of having to play without people. "But the referee gave the red card right. I have nothing to complain about."
Sanrawat's red card makes Thailand more difficult when chasing the score. Just 12 minutes earlier, they were led by Indonesia. Theerathon Bunmathan let the ball touch his hand after Asnawi Mangkualam's shot, Indonesia was awarded a penalty, and Marc Klok fooled goalkeeper Kittipong from the penalty spot to open the scoring.
Thailand played for more than half an hour without people. However, they did not concede more but also equalized. From Sarach Yoonen's long shot, the ball hit Ricky Kanbuaya and turned into the net in the helplessness of goalkeeper Argawinata.
"We conceded a goal early in the second half, and then lost again. We shouldn't have been given such a red card situation because the situation was more difficult. But the players encouraged each other, fought. to the last moment and have a point of departure," added Coach Polking.
After Sanrawat was sent off, Polking admitted to being passive and having difficulty adjusting the team's play, as it had just changed at the beginning of the second half. But then he decided to launch striker Adisak Kraisorn to replace the old general Teerasil Dangda to refresh the attack. According to the coach with dual German and Brazilian citizenship, this personnel change was effective, Adisak ran on the left wing, opening the ball to the equalizer.
A point was obtained on the field of Indonesia, and two victories over Brunei (5-0) and the Philippines (4-0) previously brought Thailand to the top of Group A. Polking's army will have a ticket to the semi-finals if it does not. lost in the match on January 2 against Cambodia, the team has 6 points.
"The match against Indonesia is too difficult. But the important thing is that in the end we have the points to have an advantage before the match against Cambodia, which decides the ticket to the semi-finals," coach Polking said.
Polking once led Thailand to the AFF Cup 2020. On that journey, the team defeated Vietnam in the semi-finals and Indonesia in the final.
