Leesaw evaluates the Thailand national team's performance after missing the ASEAN Cup 2026 title.
Passed with flying colors! Leesaw praises the Thailand national team despite missing out on the ASEAN Cup 2026 championship.
Following the War Elephants’ 2-2 away draw against the Golden Star, Vietnam national team, in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 final, Thailand lost 2-4 on aggregate and secured only the runner-up position.
Recently, Theerathep Winothai, former Thailand national team striker, posted after the game, "I admire the young Thai players. They performed well today. It was unfortunate to have some mistakes, but overall, I think this team passed the test. They met the target and fought well."
"Some players have never been on the senior national team, some are still young, and some hardly play for their clubs. Against Nguyen’s full senior squad who closed their league to prepare for this tournament, which is not on a FIFA date, I think they exceeded expectations. Keep encouraging them. Learn from the loss. Today, we didn’t allow them any shots on goal. We controlled the game well and created many chances, even taking the lead twice. We even scored for the other side—they didn’t score on us at all."
"Next time, the association should make this tournament a chance to use new players. Give opportunities to newcomers or young players to step up and experience a pressured stage like this. Seeing the new players perform well and almost win the title means we won’t have to scramble to solve the problem of clubs refusing to release players."