Asia World Cup Qualifiers Preview
2024 Asia World Cup Qualifiers: China, Thailand and South Korea in same group, China's prospects unclear
As the 2024 World Cup qualifying tournament in Asia approaches, the Chinese men's national soccer team is facing a tough battle, and being in the same group as Thailand and South Korea, the road to advancement doesn't seem to be smooth. In an interview, Thailand had let slip that they would beat the Chinese men's soccer team at home. In a recent move, Thailand's coach Polkin once again insisted that he will do his best to beat China and plans to use more young players in the tournament, a move that can't help but come as a surprise.
"South Korea are undoubtedly our biggest challengers and we will also have to compete fiercely with China and Singapore to qualify." In an interview with the Thai Evening News, Polking said, "But as long as we have a full squad and handpick the best players, we have a chance to win qualification."
"It is vital that the players are the key to the team's success in the tournament. Therefore, our priority is to ensure that the best players are included in the national team. In the previous warm-up matches in Europe, we have identified six to seven players who have excelled and will be included in the qualifying squad. Moreover, when the match against China officially kicks off, we expect more young players to join the fray." Polking revealed.
As we all know, Thailand's main players such as Dangda, Songkrasin and Boon Ma Thanh are all getting old. However, Polkin declared that he would send more young players in the World Cup qualifiers, isn't this a slight to the Chinese men's soccer team? In the face of this question, Polkin firmly denied: "The first match with China is one of the most crucial opportunities for Thailand, and a win will greatly boost our confidence in advancing to the next round. Therefore, this can be seen as the match that decides the fate of the Thai team. Our strategy is to win six points from our two opponents, China and Singapore, first so that we can reduce the pressure when we face Korea."
