Thailand coach: 'It's sad to be disillusioned with the final'
"First of all, I would like to congratulate Indonesia. Today, they played well, but we did not. This defeat is sad. We wanted to reach the final, but we are disillusioned," coach Issara said at the press conference room. Rayong Stadium after losing to Indonesia on the evening of 24/8.
Thailand is rated higher before the semi-final. Besides the home field advantage with passionate fans, Issara's teachers and students also achieved high performance - winning all three group stage matches, scoring eight goals and keeping a clean sheet. In contrast, Indonesia is under great pressure when only reaching the semi-finals thanks to "rescue tickets". After losing 1-2 to Malaysia and then winning Timor Leste 1-0, the team of ten thousand islands had to ask Vietnam to defeat the Philippines to be ranked as the second best team in three groups.
However, at Rayong Stadium, Indonesia suddenly led 2-0 after only 23 minutes, from Sroyer's long shot in the 10th minute and Ferarri's close-range header. Chukid shortened the score to 1-2 for Thailand in the 27th minute with a finish after the corner kick, but in injury time in the first half Natcha had an own goal, giving the opponent a third goal. The home team tried to push the offensive line up in the second half, but were powerless against the crowded Indonesian defense.
"We conceded a goal too soon, too easily. After shortening the score to 1-2, the team had a chance to come back. But then an own goal ruined everything, we couldn't get up. The team tried to attack in the second half, but the opponent defended too thick," added coach Issara Sritaro.
This is the second time in a row that coach Issara has received bitter fruit from Indonesia. Three months ago, he and Thailand U22 lost to this opponent 2-5 in the final of the 32nd SEA Games, and then received a series of penalties for a brawl.
When asked if the Thai player had a bad spirit, leading to not performing to his full potential, losing to Indonesia, coach Issara said: "Everyone will see that after the referee blows the whistle for time, the player will Mine was lying on the ground. They fought hard, gave 100%."
Thai Lan still has a match for the third place with Malaysia at 4 pm on August 26. Coach Issara understands that the whole team is very sad because they are disillusioned with reaching the final, but urges the students to accept the truth, focus on recovering and play the last game to thank the fans.
