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World Cup berth not out of reach |
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By ..Wanchai Rujawongsanti Bangkok Post |
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The moment of truth for the Thai national soccer side arrives on Friday when they take on Iraq in Baghdad in their first game in the 10-team second round of the Asian zone qualifiers for next year's World Cup. Although Thailand are in the tougher Group A with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Bahrain, the confidence of their officials and players has soared as their first match draws near. No one is more confident than Vijitr Getkaew, the president of the Football Association of Thailand, who has bravely predicted that Thailand will win all eight of their matches in this home-and-away series. While this is asking too much, Vijitr and the other Thai officials have reason to believe that the national side can make history by clinching the country's first World Cup finals berth. In their last three warm-up matches, Thailand produced some fine performances _ losing 3-1 to Liverpool and 2-1 to Manchester United before thrashing Singapore 5-0 on Monday. The full squad have trained together for nearly two weeks in Singapore so teamwork should not be a problem for them. The current side are arguably the best-ever Thai national team with the likes of striker Kiatisak Senamuang, Tawan Sripan and Anuruck Srikerd all at their peak. On the financial side, the players would enjoy a huge pay-day if they make it to the finals in South Korea and Japan. Apart from a cool US$2 million (around 90 million baht) from world football governing body Fifa, they would receive another 10 million baht from five sponsors. If that is not enough, there is another two million baht on offer for each win and one million baht for each draw in the qualifiers. This means the national team could net a maximum 116 million baht if everything goes their way, with officials promising that all the money would go to the players. But one thing that has surprised the critics is the team's travelling arrangements for Friday's clash against Iraq in Baghdad. The Thai squad only left Singapore for the Middle East early this morning. Because of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq, they have to make two stops _ in Dubai and Damascus, Syria _ before flying into Baghdad. The whole journey will take around 20 hours _ as long as it would take to travel to South America. As you are reading this column, the national side will still be on their way to Iraq where they will arrive just over 24 hours before the important clash. The game against Iraq could be most crucial of the eight matches they have to play and could determine Thailand's fate. If they can pick up at least a point on Friday night, their dream can still come true. But if they are defeated, it will make their campaign very difficult. Iraq are considered weaker than co-favourites Saudi Arabia and Iran. If Thailand can't get at least four points _ one from the away game and three from the home match _ from Iraq, the group's third-ranked team, then the Kingdom's already-slim chances of topping the group will become even slimmer. Thailand need to win all their four home games to stand any chance of creating history and also pick up some points in away games against the heavyweights. So local fans should turn out in droves when Thailand play their home games at Rajamagala Stadium, in the same way that they packed the stadium twice last month when the national side took on glamorous English giants Liverpool and Manchester United. Thailand have reached the World Cup's second qualifying round for the first time, and this is their best chance of securing a finals spot. If they fail this time, achieving the feat in the near future would be almost impossible as their current star players will be past their prime the next time round, and next year's hosts South Korea and Japan will return to dominate _ in all likelihood _ the qualifying rounds. |
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