Thailand U-23 Anticlimax, Failed To Qualify For The U-23 Asian Cup Fall

Ithsara Sritaro, coach of Thailand U-23, failed to qualify for the knockout round of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup (doc. AFC).

JAKARTA - Thailand U-23 failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. They lost to Tajikistan U-23 in the last match of the group with a score of 0-1 at Al Janoub Stadium, April 22, 2024.

The defeat made the White Elephant, who was previously in second place in Group C standings, evicted to the caretaker with three points from three matches.

So, Iraq U-23 and Saudi Arabia U-23 have the right to walk into the knockout stages as winners and runners-up in Group C.

The negative achievement of Thailand U-23 is clearly an anticlimactic. You see, Ithsara Sritaro's team appeared surprising at the beginning of the group.

They overturned Iraq U-23 with a score of 2-0 confidence. However, after that Thailand's U-23 appearance declined.

The White Elephant was beaten by Saudi Arabia U-23 with a landslide score of 0-5. In the last match, Thailand U-23 and Iraq U-23 were fighting for tickets to qualify from the group stage by collecting three points together, Teerasak Poeiphimai and colleagues lost to Tajikistan U-23.

Meanwhile, Iraq U-23 was able to overthrow Saudi Arabia U-23 2-1 to ensure group winners.

Ithsara coach Sritaro is clearly disappointed with the team's achievement in failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. "First, I would like to thank the fans here, at the stadium and in Thailand."

"It was an unexpected result, but the players did very well. I'm sorry we couldn't do what everyone expected of us," Ithsara said on the AFC website.

Ithsara admits that a busy schedule of tournaments raises problems in player fitness. In addition, she emphasized that her team still has homework to do in the final settlement sector. "The problem is recovery in every game. It is quite difficult for our players to be in top physical condition."

"However, it (against Tajikistan U-23) was a good match. We created many chances, but couldn't finish them. That's football," said Ithsara again.

Despite Thailand's failure to qualify for the quarter-finals, Ithsara believes in its potential forces going forward.

He said his team had a good future to bring Thai football to an achievement.

"A big award for all the players. They performed better than expected. Everything will have a bright future."

"There are some amazing players, such as Erawan (Garnier), Waris (Choolthong), and our second centre-back."

"They are doing very well and will have a good future with the senior Thailand national team," said Ithsara.

Thailand's U-23 failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup left two Southeast Asian representatives, namely Indonesia U-23 and Vietnam U-23.

Previously, Malaysia U-23 had certainly failed to qualify from the group stage because it had not yet won points from the two Group D matches.