The War Elephants have arrived in Taipei for their fourth Group D fixture in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, with head coach Masatada Ishii urging his players to treat every remaining pool match as a must-win if they are to secure a spot in the finals.
Fresh off a 2-0 home victory over Taiwan on Thursday night, the Thai squad held a training session in the Taiwanese capital as they prepare for the crucial return leg on Tuesday.
Earlier, Ishii said: ‘After our first match, because we did not have much time, we divided the players into two groups – one for recovery and the other for training. Now we have two more days to work on tactics again.
‘The coach of Taiwan has said they will play more attacking football, and I actually hope that is the case. If they attack more, it will open up space for us to exploit.
‘The reason I called up Santiphap Channgom and Songwut Kraikruan is because they are already familiar with the squad and could be brought in immediately. Some other players were unavailable or too far away to join. In fact, I had already been considering how to use these two, so it was natural to bring them in.
‘From now on, we need three points in every game. Against Turkmenistan we failed to do that, so we must make up for it in the matches ahead.
‘Although Sri Lanka managed to beat Turkmenistan, I want to focus on our own team. Of course, those two will meet again, but for us the priority is clear – we must concentrate on ourselves and make sure we collect three points.’