A Costly Lesson! Coach Wang Opens Up on Thailand U23's Red Card and Penalty Incident in the AFC Championship.
On 8 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul, head coach of the Thailand U23 national team, gave an interview following the AFC U23 Championship 2026 group stage match, Group D, first round.
In that match, Thailand U23 lost 1-2 to Australia U23.
"Today, we are proud of the players' style of play. I have said before that Australia is another strong team in Asia, but today everyone showed that we have a good playing style and performed well, only the result was not what we wanted," Coach Wang said.
"I tried to tell the players before coming to this tournament in Saudi Arabia that we must prepare mentally for an Asian-level tournament. Today, they experienced it firsthand in this major tournament. Experience will teach them about decision-making, red cards, and conceding penalties. This is a costly lesson for all of them. I believe they will improve in the next match."
"We have to consider the opposing team and decide which players to use against them. Our goal remains the same. Therefore, in the remaining two matches, we must try to earn points to advance. From what I have seen, Iraq is a strong team with skilled players. We must prepare to face these quality players."
Thailand U23's next match is against Iraq U23 in the AFC U23 Championship 2026 Group D, second round, at Prince Faisal bin Fahad Sports City Stadium, Saudi Arabia, on 11 January 2026 at 21:00 Thailand time. The match will be broadcast live on YouTube: BG SPORTS.