Why did the Thai coach give up his favorite black shirt?
*Vietnam - Thailand: 19:30 Friday, January 13, on MetaSports.
In the 3-0 victory over Malaysia in the semi-final second leg on the evening of January 10, coach Polking wore a light blue shirt, instead of the usual black shirt. After the match, he said: "Black shirt has lost. I will never wear a lost shirt again. I will continue to wear this shirt until I lose."
Polking used to wear black at the AFF Cup 2020 and helped Thailand win the first tournament under him. At the 31st SEA Games, he wore a white shirt in the opening match, but Thailand lost 1-2 against Malaysia at Thien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh. In the second match, he immediately switched to a black shirt, when Thailand defeated Singapore 5-0. In the same match, the referee forced him to wear a yellow bib shirt over his shirt to avoid mixing the color of the shirt with the referee.
Since then, he wore a black shirt until the final, although he had to wear a bib shirt. Thai media also want the Brazilian-German coach to continue wearing that shirt until the end of the tournament. In the final at My Dinh Stadium on May 22, 2022, Thailand lost 0-1 to Vietnam.
Despite losing that match, Polking still wore a black shirt and preferred the first match of the group stage of the AFF Cup 2022, when Thailand beat Brunei 5-0 in Kuala Lumpur. He continued to wear this shirt in the next matches, until losing to Malaysia 0-1 in the semi-final first leg at Bukit Jalil.
Polking's teachers and students landed at Noi Bai airport on the afternoon of January 11, to prepare for the final match of the first leg against Vietnam at My Dinh Stadium. The two teams met once in the 2008 final, when Vietnam won 3-2 on aggregate to win the championship for the first time.
Coach Polking 47 years old, played for German and Cypriot clubs as a winger. He has worked at Thai clubs and national teams for the past 10 years, except for the period of 2020-2021, leading the HCM City club. Polking started to lead the Thai team in September 2021, helping the team win the AFF Cup for the sixth time in early 2022.
