For many years, the unparalleled love that the Thai people have demonstrated for football has been unrewarded. A large contributor of the massive global viewership of the English Premier League, Thailand’s own chances for national representation on the global football stage have been few and far between.
However, this may all be about to change with the new generation of Thai footballers. After qualifying for the final round of the long and arduous World Cup Qualification process, Thais have become reinvigorated by the performances of their national football team.
With legendary striker Kiatisuk Senamuang as the team’s coach, Thailand have exploded into life on the world stage. Senamuang, nicknamed “Zico” after the renowned Brazilian striker, was recognized as one of the best upcoming coaches in the world by FourFourTwo magazine. Winger Chanathip Songkrasin and fullback Theerathon Bunmathan were both given continental recognition as well, with FourFourTwo listing the pair in their Top 50 Asian Players list, placed 37th and 21st respectively.
Both Chanathip and Theerathon are linked to moves abroad in the upcoming year. The former has been linked to Turkish side Fenerbahce, which could offer him the opportunity to compete in the prestigious Europa League. The latter has identified the Japanese League as his dream destination, and even switched Thai League giants Buriram United for arch-rivals Muangthong after they disallowed him the opportunity to play his football in the land of the rising sun.
It has been years since any Thai player has gone abroad to play football, with the exception of captain Teerasil Dangda making 6 appearances for Spanish La Liga side Almeria in a short loan spell during the 2014-15 season. While it may not seem significant, that loan for Dangda was a key catalyst in the meteoric rise of the national team, which has been dubbed as Thailand’s Golden Generation.
One key reason for the increased interest from foreign clubs for Thai players has been their run to the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup. Thailand won the South-East Asian football tournament last time out in 2014, coming into this year’s tournament as favorites and holders, level with Singapore on all time wins. A victory for Thailand would mean that they will become the most
successful team in the history of the AFF Cup.
Thailand now face Indonesia in the final after 5 straight victories in the competition, and now are two matches away from taking the crown as the most successful team in South East Asia. The final match of their campaign will take place at home, in Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium, on December 17th. A match of historic proportions awaits the National Team, which many claim have the potential to go on and be best generation of players this country has ever seen.
Gian Chansrichawla
