BANGKOK (28 Nov 2018) – Midfielder Sanrawat Dechmitr has come out in defence of Thailand’s defensive quality ahead of their clash against Malaysia in the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup on Saturday.
Defending champions Thailand will play Malaysia in the first leg semifinals in Kuala Lumpur before the return tie in Bangkok a few days later.
But the current Thai team under head coach Milovan Rajevac has come under fire from some quarters for being too defensive even though they have scored a whopping 15 goals as against conceding three in the four matches played in the group stage.
“We may not play beautiful, attacking football but we have been more systematic as a team,” said Sanrawat.
“If you understand the coach well, you’d realised that he’s just attempting to help in areas where we need to improve. So I accept what he’s trying to do.
“We haven’t conceded as many goals, even as our opponents tried to intensify their attacks, and we can counter-punch at any time. This is a new dimension in Thai football.”
“With the number of goals we have scored, fans should be happy. But if they still have negative thoughts, there’s nothing we can do.”
