BANGKOK (4 August 2011) – Thailand will have only ten days of training while Indonesia have confirmed a friendly against Malaysia in the run up to their third round qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup.
The Thais, who have been placed in Group D of the qualifiers against Australia, Saudi Arabia and Oman, can only start training under chief coach Winfried Schaefer on 21 August 2011 due to their commitment with the in the Thai Premier League (TPL).
“We will have ten days to train before meeting Australia (on 2 Sept 2011),” said Datuk Worawi Makudi, the president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).
But Datuk Worawi said that the national team will play a warm-up match on either 17 or 18 August 2011 against a yet-to-be confirmed opponent.
In the meantime, Indonesia have confirmed a match against Malaysia on 14 August in Kuala Lumpur with games against DPR Korea and Jordan at home still in talks.
“We had to change the schedule because the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) told us their national team wouldn’t be able to make the trip to Jakarta. We decided to play the match in Kuala Lumpur instead,” said Djohar Arifin Husin, the president of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) this week.
“We’re still in talks with DPR Korea, but we think it will be a good warm-up for us because they also will play in the third round.
“However, we have yet to talk with coach Wim (Rijsbergen) about this offer. If we reach a deal, the match will probably be on 17 or 18 August 2011 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.”
Placed in Group E of the qualifiers against Iran, Qatar and Bahrain, Indonesia will open their campaign in the third round away to Iran in Tehran on 2 Sept 2011.
ASEAN other representative in the third round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers is Singapore.
