The Thai team has finalized a list of 25 players who will go to Hanoi to attend the Friendly Tournament from September 5 to 10. Among them, the three biggest stars of Thai football over the past decade, Teerasil Dangda, Chanathip Songkrasin and Theerathon Bunmanthan, were not present.
Instead, the Japanese strategist gave opportunities to 5 new players. In addition, some players who have been absent for a long time also returned to the "War Elephants" squad, notably Ekanit Panya.
Responding to the question about whether the 25 players called up this time will attend the 2024 King's Cup and then the 2024 AFF Cup, Mr. Ishii said: "For the two matches against Vietnam and Russia as well as the King's Cup next November , we will focus on testing new players.
The Thai team needs a new generation of players, also to prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers that will take place next year. Because the Thai team did not qualify for the next qualifying round of the World Cup, the team needs to refresh the squad. The list was selected based on the people who worked with me in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. For many reasons, at that time, we were not able to use all of them."
The Thai team was unfortunately eliminated in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. They only lost to the Chinese team in terms of head-to-head performance. Therefore, the team's next goal is to defend the AFF Cup championship and qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup. The friendly tournament in Vietnam is part of the plan for Ishii teachers and students to complete two goals. large has proposed.
“For the two matches against Vietnam and Russia, we want to use as many players as possible. Based on the training process, the opponent's playing style and many other factors, I will choose the personnel for each match.
It's a big picture with many different decisions. In addition, I also need to rely on the quality of each player, attitude and ability to integrate into team play to choose personnel," Mr. Ishii emphasized.
According to the schedule, the Thai team will meet the Russian team on the evening of September 7. 3 days later, they will meet the Vietnam team . Both of these matches took place at My Dinh Stadium.
