MENDEZ RAISES CONCERN OVER OFFENSIVE PLAY

Anucha Munjarern had put Thailand in front at Nimibutr Stadium only for Emil Kanetov to level for Kyrgyzstan midway through the second half.

But Ekkaphan Suratsawang and Tanakorn Santanaprasit both struck to help the hosts top Group A in a performance that was characterised by some gritty defending from the Thais.

“I think this was the most competitive game for my team in this tournament,” Mendez said.

“We played very well in defence and we concentrated well against a very good team.

“I like Kyrgyzstan a lot, they have plenty of ability. They are maybe the best team in the tournament at set-plays, they are very dangerous. I think in the last two games, they scored four or five goals from corners or free kicks.

“They are a more experienced team and we tried to press them because they have players with a lot of quality.

“They are very fast so we preferred to wait in the half-court and deny them space behind our defenders.”

However, despite the impressive victory, Mendez admitted he still has concerns about his side’s offensive strengths.

“I’m still worried about our attack, we need a lot of chances to score,” he added.

“We had five or six chances in the first half and maybe we could have opened up more of a gap.

“We could maybe have scored one more goal more and the second half could have been more relaxing. But we need many chances.”

Kyrgyzstan boss Murtazin Djetybaev saw his side enjoy plenty of possession but fail to break down their dogged opponents.

“We are disappointed because we lost but the score was not a fair reflection of the game,” he said.

“We think the Thailand players were very well coached for this game. The movement of their players was very quick and that is why we lost.”