The Thailand national football team beat the Indian team 2-0 in a friendly match in preparation for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against their rivals from Turkmenistan. The game took place at the 25,000-capacity Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani, near Bangkok.
The scoring was opened in the 8th minute by 24-year-old attacking midfielder Benjamin Davis, who shot from the penalty area after a pass from Koravich Tasa. The success of the «War Elephants», as the Thai national team is called, was sealed by 26-year-old striker Poramet Arjviraj, who sent the ball under the crossbar with a beautiful shot in the 58th minute.
This was the last rehearsal of the Thai footballers before the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Turkmenistan in Ashgabat on the 10th of June.
The Thai national team has been coached by 58-year-old famous Japanese specialist Masatada Ishii since 22nd of November, 2023. Under his leadership, the Japanese team Kashima Antlers reached the final of the Club World Cup in 2016, where they lost to madrid’s «Real» in extra time with a score of 2:4, and the Thai club Buriram United won the domestic treble in two seasons in a row (2021-22 and 2022-23), winning the championship, Thailand Cup and Thai League Cup.
The Thailand national football team, ranked 99th by FIFA, has never qualified for the World Cup, but has been a fairly regular participant in the AFC Asian Cup, qualifying for it eight times. Their best performance in the Asian football tournament was a third-place finish in 1972, when it was held in Thailand. In the last two editions of the Asian Cup, the «War Elephants» have reached the knockout stages, but were eliminated at the round of 16 stage.
Thailand has also won the ASEAN (Southeast Asian) Championship seven times, finishing second in the most recent edition in 2024, where they lost to Vietnam in the final.
According to many experts, Thailand has been in good form of late, winning three of their last five games. In friendly matches, the teams of Afghanistan and India were defeated with the same score of 2:0, and in the official game, a minimal victory was won over the Sri Lankan team - 1:0. Both of the last defeats happened in January 2024 in the final of the ASEAN Championship from the Vietnam team - 1:2 and 2:3.
Among the key players in the Thailand team, one can highlight midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin, who is the most experienced player with 70 matches for the national team, as well as striker Supachai Chaided, midfielder Benjamin Davis, who scored four goals in just seven matches, and defender of Italian origin Marco Ballini with a height of two metres.
There are also a number of players in the opposing team of the Turkmen footballers who play for foreign clubs. These are midfielder Jaroensak Wonggorn («Cereso Osaka» club of the Japanese top division), midfielder Ekanit Panya (FC «Ehime» of the Japanese second division) and defender of Swedish origin Elias Dolah («Bali United» club of the Indonesian top division).
As the head coach of the Thai national team reported at the pre-match press conference, several leading players were unable to come to Ashgabat due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coaching staff of the guests is optimistic.
«We came to Ashgabat with a fighting spirit and intend to show quality football. We have one goal – victory», –said Masatada Ishii.
However, the Turkmenistan national team also intends to give battle to the formidable opponent.
«Our plans are ambitious: to get out of the group, to get to the Asian Cup», – said the head coach of the Turkmen team Rovshen Meredov.
He noted that the successes of the country's club teams and youth teams in the international arena create a favourable basis for the development of national football. According to R. Meredov, the Football Federation of Turkmenistan is making every effort to create a solid foundation for the development of football in the country.
Remind that the national teams of Turkmenistan and Thailand approached the upcoming qualifying match as the leaders of Group «D». In the first round, the Turkmen footballers won an away victory over Chinese Taipei - 2:1, and Thailand beat Sri Lanka at home - 1:0.
