Thailand won 3:1, but the coach quit the class and led the team to win the championship 2, which was difficult to resist losing to China
On November 22, on the same day that China lost 0:3 to South Korea, Thailand, which was a guest in Singapore, won the opponent cleanly with a score of 3:1, scored 3 points, and also surpassed the Chinese team and ranked second in the group. With four games to go in the round of 36, Thailand undoubtedly have a chance to qualify. But after the game, there was a sudden explosion of news, and the Thai men's football team officially announced: Coach Porkin was officially announced to be dismissed and immediately executed, the specific reason was because of the 1:2 loss to China at home.
Attending the press conference was the team leader Lun Pan, who said: For the two matches that have taken place in the round of 36 of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in Asia, all the Thai people have high expectations, but the game process has given us a heavy blow, especially the first 1-2 loss to the Chinese team at home, which makes the hope of advancing to the third stage slim. So we decided to have an honest conversation with Coach Polkin in the off-season through the president of the Football Association, and the team felt that the time had to change so that the Thai team could better play and stand out in Asia. As the team leader, I have to thank Coach Polkin and his team, they have done their best for the team in the past years, and they have helped the team with their experience, especially in the last two Southeast Asian Championships, he has led the team to win the championship, so that all the people of Thailand can experience the joy of winning the championship.
Then the Thai team decided to let the team's former technical director, Japanese Masataka Ishii, be the new coach. The new coach has a lot of background, having previously led Kashima Antlers to the Club World Cup final, where they lost to Real Madrid. Then he came to Thailand to coach Thailand's domestic giants Sabep Prakan and Buriram United, because of his conscientious work attitude and understanding of Thai football, so before the World Preliminary Tournament, he was specially hired as the technical director of the Thai national team.
Compared to Polki, who came from Brazil, Ishii Masadada clearly knows more about Asian football. Considering that a large number of players in the Thai national team have played for the club he works for, so in terms of understanding the Thai team, I am afraid that it is not inferior to Porkin, who has many clubs and former U23 coaches, this change of coach may have little impact on Thailand.
However, the act of changing the coach, and the mention of the Chinese team by name in the team leader's announcement, is enough to show how unconvinced Thailand is about losing to China. The next game is a guest at China's home stadium, I am afraid it is destined to be a bloody battle.