Thai coach blames playing on artificial turf

Coach Masatada Ishii said that playing on artificial turf caused Thailand to lose to Turkmenistan.

Coach Masatada Ishii blamed playing on artificial turf for Thailand's loss - Photo: FAT

Late on June 10, the Thai team unexpectedly lost to the weaker team Turkmenistan with a score of 1-3 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

This defeat caused the “War Elephants” to fall to second place in Group D with only 3 points, 3 points behind the top position of Turkmenistan. This result makes the chance of winning a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup Finals in Saudi Arabia extremely fragile.

Sharing after the defeat against the team ranked 142nd in FIFA, coach Ishii said: “Playing on artificial turf greatly affects the players' ability to play football.

We should have controlled the game better, but it is really difficult to play on this pitch.”

Artificial turf is always a challenge for teams like Thailand - Photo: FAT

The Japanese strategist also admitted that Turkmenistan is an extremely difficult opponent.

“Turkmenistan has a very clear style of play. They have the advantage of having many players playing for the same club, so they understand each other very well when playing. At the same time, conceding a goal too early made it difficult for us to deploy our tactics and the opponent defended too tenaciously,” the Thai coach added.

Coach Ishii also explained why Benjamin Davis only came on as a substitute: “I know Benjamin is a good player. But in today’s match, we had many players who were more suitable for the team’s tactics, so he did not start.”

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THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-thai-lan-do-loi-cho-viec-da-tren-san-co-nhan-tao-2025061107383254.htm