Thailand Futsal head coach Rakphol Sainetngam is all about the positives even though his side had to swallow the bitter pill in finishing third at the Continental Futsal Championship 2026.
Two-time winners Thailand had to be content with finishing behind champions Russia and ASEAN neighbours Vietnam at the annual invitational meet.
“If we look at the entire tournament, we did well for about two and a half games, but certainly in the match against Vietnam, we made some mistakes in the second half, which partly affected the players’ confidence in the match against Russia,” said Rakphol.
“Russia played with determination and pressure, but we were not brave enough to keep to our playing style, so we had to accept that the results did not go as planned.
“After this, we need to review and correct our mistakes. Although we did not get the desired results in this tournament, there are still good things, such as the opportunity for many players to gain experience from facing top-level teams. Additionally, some players showed potential and became another option for the team, which will all be beneficial for the next team preparation.”
Thailand had started brightly with two big wins – 6-0 thrashing of New Zealand and then a 6-1 beating of Afghanistan.
But a 3-3 draw against Vietnam seemed to have affected Thailand’s confidence as they then crumbled to a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Russia in their final game of the competition.
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Photos Courtesy #FutsalThailand
