The Thai team had an unsuccessful friendly match against Georgia, the team ranked 79th in the world. In the first 45 minutes, coach Alexandre Polking and his team defended poorly and conceded 6 goals. Even in the first 20 minutes, the Thai players were suffocated and could not control the ball to play.
After losing quickly due to defensive mistakes, the Thai team continued to concede two more goals in the second half, despite having regrouped to play better than before the break.
Coach Polking wants his students to regain their spirit
The 0-8 defeat to Georgia was the heaviest defeat for the Thai team in many years, approaching the record of the 0-9 loss of the team nicknamed "War Elephants" to the England team more than half a century ago.
After the "humiliating" defeat, Coach Polking said that the players made many personal mistakes leading to the heavy defeat. He analyzed: "We expected to do better than this but things did not go as expected. Many of the players I called up this time were wearing the Thai national team jersey for the first time. There were many new players called up for the first time.
"This is an important match for my players to learn from because we met a strong team like Georgia. We analyzed before the match that Georgia has a quick transition and they are a strong team. In the first half, we made a lot of mistakes and were punished for our mistakes," said Coach Polking.
The German strategist affirmed that the Thai team must learn their lesson and play better. "We have to learn our lessons together. Good luck to Georgia in the next match. As for Thailand, we will work hard to come back and play well in the next match.
It was a tough loss but I don't think I blame the players. All the players and the fans who came with us today did their best. Everyone tried their best. We have to prepare well for the next friendly against Estonia."
The Thai team will play a friendly match with Estonia (ranked 115th in the world) on October 17, before heading to the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Coach Polking and his team are in the same group with South Korea, China and the winner of the first round match between Singapore and Guam.
Coach Polking is under great pressure as the Thai team has not performed well. Before losing 0-8 to Georgia, Thailand lost to Iraq in the King's Cup final at home in September.
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