A redemption championship... moving forward for development!!
Finally, the Thailand U19 futsal team has restored pride to the Thai football community.
They defeated Indonesia 3-1 in the final match.
Claiming the ASEAN U19 futsal championship title for the first time.
This has somewhat lifted the cloud of disappointment that has hung over the Football Association of Thailand since the last SEA Games.
The painful wounds from missing out on all four gold medals at the 2022 SEA Games, which Thailand hosted,
in men's football, women's football, men's futsal, and women's futsal,
and even up to the ASEAN U16 futsal final, where Thai youth were again haunted by defeat, settling for runner-up.
It is hard to believe that in futsal alone, we suffered a nearly complete loss to the Garuda futsal team.
Moreover, it was a home defeat.
It nearly cost Thailand the title of "ASEAN futsal champion" this year to Indonesia.
Fortunately, the young energy of the Thailand U19 national team helped curb the confidence of the Javanese players.
Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to halt the momentum of Indonesia's increasingly strong futsal squads.
Credit must be given to all the young rising futsal stars on this team,
who were determined and gave more than 100% effort against Indonesia throughout the entire match from start to finish.
They learned from the mistakes of the senior men's and women's national teams, as well as the U16 team that recently lost to the Indonesian youth.
This enabled the Thai futsal team to regain their form and strength nationwide.
Their counterattacks were sharp, defense solid, and every player scored goals.
When it came time to execute the power play, they did so decisively, confidently, and flawlessly.
All thanks to the experienced head coach, Boonlert Charoenwong,
and assistant coach "Coach Yut" Yutthana Pholsak, a legendary former captain of Thailand's futsal national team,
who helped develop this squad to be effective.
They also designed strategies and tactics on the field that led to the successful defeat of the Indonesian team.
Coach Boonlert revealed after winning the ASEAN championship,
"What made us win this game was the 'team spirit.' All three lines played fully; we have no superstars on our team."
"Today, what truly brought us victory was teamwork."
This is exactly what I and Thai futsal fans want to see most in all Thai futsal teams,
where everyone can substitute for each other under any circumstances.
Importantly, the victory over Indonesia to lift the ASEAN U19 trophy
is a year-end success that has brought smiles to "Big Pom" Adisak Benjasiriwan, the diligent futsal development chairman,
and "Madam Pang" Nualphan Lamsam, president of the Football Association of Thailand.
They could finally smile a little after being stressed and serious about the national teams' performances for so long.
In particular, Big Pom admitted to me that despite winning the U19 championship,
he personally views that overall, Thai futsal "has not yet succeeded" this year.
Regionally, in recent years, we have only been defeated by Indonesia.
This clearly shows that Indonesia's futsal sector has learned and developed continuously from beating Thailand.
Especially in recent years, their progress has come from investing in foreign coaches from Spain and Portugal.
They have built a strong domestic futsal league and a serious youth development system.
Therefore, Thailand's key challenge now is to find ways to develop our futsal forward and never remain stagnant.
Otherwise, Indonesia or other ASEAN countries will catch up and eventually surpass us.
I am fully aware and already have plans on how Thailand must develop futsal today and in the future.
But I cannot do it alone.
It requires cooperation from all sectors and every futsal organization in Thailand to work together.
Most importantly, the Football Association of Thailand, which has always supported futsal in every aspect,
will need to continue offering support and nurturing futsal as much as possible.
Thai futsal will not fall behind anyone nor disappoint anyone, certainly.
If all of us are determined and help together, each contributing a little!
-- Bee Bangpakong --