Coach Kiatisak carefully analyzes Uzbekistan's 'appearance', expecting the Thai team to win

The Thai team has passed the group stage to qualify for the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup. The opponent of the "war elephant" in the knockout round is the representative of the Central Asian region, Uzbekistan. In theory, the Uzbekistan team is rated higher, when ranked 45 places above Thailand in the FIFA rankings (68 compared to 113). However, when it comes to actual competition, the ranking does not say much.

Thai media is confident about the Thai team’s chances of winning. Thairath newspaper commented that the chances of advancing are almost equal for both teams. The Thai newspaper also quoted former head coach of the “war elephant” Kiatisak.

Coach Kiatisak believes the Thai team has a chance to win

The head coach of the Hanoi Police Club said that the Thai team was quite lucky to only face Uzbekistan in the round of 16. Mr. Kiatisak shared: “This match will be very difficult, but the Thai players are very confident. I see that there is almost no difference between the official squad and the reserve squad of Thailand”.

The former head coach of HAGL team is confident: “The Thai team has a good defense, but needs to be sharper in attack. Thailand played well in the match against Saudi Arabia, creating scoring opportunities. Therefore, I believe that Thailand has a chance to win against Uzbekistan.”

Thailand team is expected to cause a surprise against Uzbekistan

“Uzbekistan uses the same 4-2-3-1 formation as Thailand. Uzbekistan's strengths are team spirit and aerial combat. But this is a knockout round, so I think Uzbekistan will not dare to impose an attacking style of play against Thailand. The two teams will focus on limiting goals conceded and the match may go to extra time or penalty shootouts. As for the Thai team, I think they should boldly play more offensively, after playing very good defense in the group stage. In this match, the key is which team scores first. I believe that with the current confidence, the Thai team can win,” added coach Kiatisak.

The match between Thailand and Uzbekistan will take place at 6:30 p.m. today (January 30).

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kiatisak-phan-tich-ky-dung-mao-uzbekistan-ky-vong-doi-tuyen-thai-lan-chien-thang-185240130103140508.htm