Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul has been given only three weeks to get his team ready for the ASEAN U-23 Mandiri Cup™ 2025, but the recently appointed Thailand U-23 head coach is confident his players can rise to the occasion in ASEAN’s premier international youth tournament, which will be played in Indonesia from 15 to 29 July.
The former Thailand international winger was brought in to replace Takayuki Nishigaya on 27 June, after a poor run of results for the Thai U-23s, who lost all five of their games under the Japanese coach this year.
Although he doesn’t have much time to prepare his team for their opening Group C game against Timor-Leste on 19 July, Thawatchai has set a big target for them at the Mandiri Cup™ 2025, which is a showcase for ASEAN’s rising stars.
“Our goal is to win the tournament, but it's more about the journey and how we can achieve our targets with the limited preparation time we have," said Thawatchai, who met up with his team for the first time when they reported for pre-tournament training in Bangkok on 9 July.
"We have prepared quite extensively and tried to study each Thai player individually. This week, we held a staff meeting to assign roles and responsibilities. We've got the tasks divided up, and I met with the players when they reported for training and discussed some things with them,” he said.
“All 23 players have reported and we have been able to start training fully. We've prepared a training program until our friendly match against Police Tero on July 13, as well as our training plans in Indonesia."
One of Thawatchai’s main challenges will be to raise the team’s morale after their poor run of form under Nishigaya, which included losses to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Croatia and Hong Kong.
"I prefer to channel any worries into work. We don't have much time, but we have to work hard, and to try and turn pressure into pride,” said the 51-year-old, who led Chonburi FC to the Thai League 2 title in 2024/25.
“There are some concerns, but I believe that by working together, we can become stronger. For this tournament, I believe that even with limited time, many of our players are well prepared as they have been in pre-season training and their physical condition is quite good.
“We'll focus on adjusting our system and individual roles in each zone. What we need to improve is our attacking play. After watching several of their recent matches, I noticed that the players have been good at building up play, but we're lacking in finishing. I'm discussing with my staff on fixing our attacking and finishing, but we won't forget about our defensive game and will focus on set pieces as well.”
Thawatchai has coached several Thai league clubs since he retired as a player and he is making good use of his links in the local game to help him in his new role.
“After inquiring and getting information from Akkaporn Chalitaporn, the coach of Sukhothai FC, I also contacted the clubs of several players to understand their playing styles and I received quite a lot of information,” he explained.
“As for key players, I'm looking at Saksarn Ratree and Sittha Boonlha. We're lacking a defensive midfielder, as Sittha is the only one in the team. Chaiyapol Otton can play there but his natural position is left-back.”
Following their match against Timor-Leste at Patriot Stadium on 19 July, Thailand will face Myanmar at the same venue for their final Group C game on 22 July.
The winners of each of the three groups plus the second-placed team with the best record at the end of the group stage will progress to the semi-finals on 25 July. The final will be played at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on 29 July.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of FA Thailand
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