Suphanat scored the “golden goal” to help Thailand overcome the Philippines so that the War Elephants can be present in the final match of the AFF Cup 2024 against Vietnam on December 30. Certainly, coach Kim Sang-sik’s defenders must be cautious when facing the winger described as “quick as a squirrel” and very skillful of Thailand.
After Euro 2024, people realized that to stop Spain, they had to block the explosive power from the right wing of Lamine Yamal. In terms of Southeast Asia, Suphanat can be considered a "Yamal of regional football". These two stars not only have the same playing position but also shine very early.
Similarities between Yamal and Suphanat
Yamal holds many records such as the youngest player to start for Barcelona, the youngest player to assist in La Liga... At Euro 2024, Yamal is the youngest player to play, the youngest player to assist, the youngest player to score, the youngest player to play in the final, the youngest player to assist in the final and most importantly, the youngest player to win the championship...
Suphanat celebrates after scoring against the Philippines.
Suphanat also holds a series of records: Youngest player to play in Thai.League history at 15 years, 8 months and 22 days; Youngest player to score in Thai.League history at 15 years, 9 months and 24 days; Youngest player to score in AFC Champions League history at 16 years, 8 months and 7 days; Youngest player to play for the Thai national team at 16 years, 10 months and 3 days; Youngest player to score in AFC U-23 Championship history.
In 2019, when Suphanat was 17 years old, he was listed by the Guardian as one of the 60 most promising talents in world football (Next Generation 2019).
There are many young players who shine brightly but fail to develop later. We can see this with the naturalized players in the Singapore national team. Kyoga Nakamura played for the Japanese youth team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013. However, Nakamura could not find a place in the J.League and played in the Second and Third Divisions before drifting to Singapore.
As for Suphanat, after a promising start in the Thai league, the player born in 2002 is still progressing in the right direction in his career. After 5 domestic seasons, Suphanat moved to play in the Belgian league for OH Leuven on loan last season.
In Europe, Suphanat did not have many opportunities to play. Last season, the Thai player only played 369 minutes in the Belgian league, starting 3 times, coming on as a substitute 11 times and scoring 1 goal. This season, Suphanat was sent down to the OH Leuven youth team.
The nightmare of Vietnam's defense
Such an achievement is still better than the only Vietnamese player who has played in the Belgian league, Cong Phuong. In 2019, Cong Phuong went to Sint-Truiden on loan, played for exactly 20 minutes against FC Brugge and then did not appear in the first team again. Cong Phuong then had to go down to the youth team until he left Belgium.
With a small stature (only 1.73 meters tall), thin body and not outstanding physical strength, Suphanat cannot be like Yamal to shine in the European football environment. However, if Suphanat plays in Asia, this player can be successful like his seniors Chanathip Songkrasin or Theerathon Bunmathan. For a Southeast Asian player, affirming his position in the J.League or K.League is the measure of success.
Vietnam's defense will have to be wary of Suphanat.
For Vietnamese players, dealing with Suphanat is like England or France defenders having to think of ways to deal with Yamal. At Euro 2024, Yamal is not only famous for his goal against France but also has 4 assists to become the player with the most assists in the history of a Euro.
At the ASEAN Cup 2024, Suphanat also had 4 assists in addition to 4 goals. Vietnam's defenders have not forgotten Suphanat's goals in the confrontations.
In addition to the equalizer that helped Thailand come from behind to win 2-1 in a friendly match at My Dinh in September, Suphanat also scored against Vietnam at the 2019 SEA Games. Thailand's goal to make it 2-0 against Van Toan almost caused Vietnam to be eliminated from the group stage. Fortunately, Vietnam later equalized to 2-2 and Thailand was eliminated.
France and England cannot win Euro 2024 because they cannot stop right winger Yamal from scoring or assisting. Therefore, Vietnam needs to lock down Thailand's right winger, "the Yamal of Southeast Asia".
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/khoa-suphanat-nhiem-vu-song-con-cua-hang-thu-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-ar917565.html
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