‘We have to work harder to close the gap’ – Rodrigo

BANGKOK (13 April 2025) – The gap in experience was obvious and Thailand Futsal head coach Miguel Rodrigo could not have said it any better when he stated that the team needed ‘to work harder to close the gap’.

Host Thailand had to settle for third in the recently concluded SAT Men’s Futsal Championship 2025 behind champions Russia and runners-up Iran.

“We have to work harder to close the gap for the future,” said Rodrigo.

Commenting on the loss to Asian powerhouse Iran in their final game of the group stage, Rodrigo said: “Another time we lost to Iran. It is their day again. In every beat of the game, Iran did well.

“We had some good moments. As we started to lead 1-0, we got some confidence but 10 seconds later, we conceded the equaliser to be followed by the second and third goals. It gave us emotional problems.

“The match against Iran is all about controlling emotion in play, which is an important work we need to get back to and fix.”

It was the second time in two matches that Thailand gave up the lead to lose to their opponents eventually.

Against Russia in the second game of the competition, the Thais were leading at the break but gave it up at the end.

 

#AFF

#FAT

#FutsalThailand