'War elephant' is strong enough to defend the throne

Chanathip, Theerathon, 2 Thai players who played in J1 League and the owner of 2 most recent AFF Cup Best Player titles, are all absent. Sarach Yooyen, Dangda, Kritsada, Supachai, Sasalak, Elias Dolah... stars of Thai football are also not included. For that reason, many people mistakenly think that the Thai team brings to the AFF Cup 2024 a squad that lacks competitiveness. Is that true? The answer is no. Coach Ishii still has a very, very high-quality squad and is capable of helping the Thai team defend the Southeast Asian throne.

Thái Lan đấu Timor Leste tại Hàng Đẫy: 'Voi chiến' đủ sức bảo vệ ngôi vương- Ảnh 1. — Weerathep (18) is the star of the Thai team at the AFF Cup 2024

In goal, the Thai team has Khammai, the goalkeeper in the Thai League 2023 - 2024 best squad and has been a regular starter for the "War Elephants" recently. In front of Khammai are Pansa, Suphanan, Charlemsak, experienced central defenders and Jonathan Khemdee, a Thai player who is progressing very quickly. On the right wing, Nicholas Mickelson is ready to spread danger to opponents with effective overlapping situations.

Coach Ishii's midfield force is even more formidable. They also have conductor Weerathep, who was once noticed by Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan); Ekanit Panya, who has 14 appearances in the J1 League and a series of other classy midfielders such as Worachi, William, Peeradol, Ben Davis... And especially dangerous is the attacking trio Supachok - Suphanat - Patrik. The two brothers Supachok - Suphanat are too famous, having grown up from the Buriram United training center and have been the pillars of the Thai national team for many years. Patrik is a new face in the striker position, possessing an impressive physique (1.87 m tall) and once scored against the Vietnamese national team in the FIFA Days series in September.

According to Transfermarkt, the value of the Thai team in the AFF Cup 2024 is 7.35 million euros, the highest in the tournament. This figure is slightly higher than the Vietnamese team (7.25 million euros) but far exceeds the rest of Group A, almost double that of the Malaysian team (3.75 million euros). With such a quality squad, if they play to their full potential, the Thai team will take the top spot in Group A.

Except for Timor Leste, who is too weak, the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia are all capable of competing for the remaining ticket in Group A. It is interesting that all three teams have naturalized players in their squads. They are also the "carrying" factors, making an important contribution to the race to the semi-finals of the AFF Cup 2024. The Philippines team has Santiago Rublico, who grew up in Atletico Madrid's training center; Kiko Linares, Oskari Kekkonen, Scott Woods, players born in Europe and currently playing in Thailand...

Meanwhile, the Malaysian team still has a series of naturalized players such as Ezequiel Aguero (Argentine origin); Paolo Josue, Endrick (Brazilian origin); Darren Lok (Malay, British origin); Fergus Tierney (Scottish origin)... While the Philippine and Malaysian teams have used naturalized players for a long time, the Cambodian team has just joined this wave. The "Angkor Warriors" have added many naturalized players: Yudai Ogawa, Hiraku Mizuno, Takaki Ose (Japan); Coulibaly Kader (Ivory Coast); Rafael Rondon (Colombia) and Mohammed Khan (South Africa). The presence of these players will certainly make the competition in Group A much more exciting.