Thailand U-23 Makes A Surprise To Beat Iraq U-23 In The 2024 U-23 Asian Cup

Thailand U-23 made history defeating Iraq U-23 (doc. AFC).

JAKARTA - Thailand U-23 made a surprise by beating Iraq's strong U-23 2-0 team in the inaugural Group C match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup at Al Janoub Stadium, Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

Two goals from the White Elephant were recorded by Waris Choolthong (26') and Teerasak Poeiphmai (65').

Thailand is now in second place in Group C under Saudi Arabia which also won in the first match against Tajikistan with a score of 4-2.

Thailand's head coach, Ithsara Sritaro, admired the appearance of his troops. You see, the positive result was Thailand's first U-23 victory over Iraq U-23 from seven final meetings.

In the previous six encounters, the White Elephant had never won. In detail, three times lost and three draws.

"A great award is given to the players. They have all done their best, both starter and substitute."

"They maintain a good form of defense. We are very impressed with them tonight," said Ithsara on the AFC website.

Thailand's strong defense is the key to victory. This was also recognized by Iraqi coach

He called Thailand well organized, both in defense and in the overall game system. However,bulni also emphasized that his troops did appear below the standard. In fact, Iraq U-23 dominated the game. They managed to record 57 percent possession and fired 23 shots, five of which were on target.

Compare it to Thailand's U-23 which is only able to shoot seven times from 43 percent possession.

"The players did not give (good) performances as they showed in the training camp. This is different (between friendly and competitive matches against Thailand)."

"However, we didn't show our original game. We have a strategy for every game and we can't lose points,"ORdani said.

As is known, Iraq and Thailand last met in a friendly match in March 2022. In that party, Iraq won 2-1.

Iraq was clearly surprised by Thailand's different appearances. According to Ithsara, his troops have learned a lot from the previous meeting so they finally have a solution to bend Iraq. "We've been monitoring Iraq. We know they have players with good potential, physically strong, and have good technique," he said.

"Each team has their own strengths and weaknesses. We follow the way we want to play, we have good discipline and we know how to exploit Iraq," said Ithsara.

Victory over Iraq U-23 certainly spurred Thailand's U-23 spirit into the continued Group C match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup.

The situation is clearly open to the fact that Southeast Asian teams do not deserve to be underestimated.

Thailand has proven that Asian giants can be knocked. Iraq U-23 is an experienced team in the U-23 Asian Cup that won in the first edition of 2013.

Iraq is perched with four other clubs that have won the U-23 Asian Cup, namely Saudi Arabia (2022), South Korea (2020), Uzbekistan (2018), and Japan (2016).

Next, Thailand U-23 will face another strong team, Saudi Arabia U-23, who is the defending champion on April 19, 2024.

Head-to-Head of Iraq U-23 vs Thailand U-23

16/4/2024 Iraq U-23 vs Thailand U-23 0-2 (Asian U-23 2024 Cup)

29/3/2022 Iraq U-23 vs Thailand U-23 2-1 (Friendly Tournament)

Thailand's 14/1/2020 U-23 vs Iraq U-23 1-1 (Asian U-23 2020 Cup)

10/6/2017 Thailand U-23 vs Iraq U-23 1-1 (Friendly Match)

Thailand's 2/10/2014 U-23 vs Iraq U-23 0-1 (Asian Games)

Thailand's 18/4/2007 U-23 vs Iraq U-23 0-1 (Olympics)

28/3/2007 Iraq U-23 vs Thailand U-23 1-1 (Olympics)