Thailand caretaker coach Sirisak Yodyardthai yesterday vowed that his cornered War Elephants will play "entertaining football" in their crunch Asian Cup Group A clash with Bahrain today.
The two sides will take the field at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai at 6pm (Thai time) after meeting contrasting fates in their respective opening group games.
Highly-fancied Thailand were upstaged 4-1 by India on Sunday, a day after Bahrain had pulled off a 1-1 draw against hosts the United Arab Emirates.
In the wake of the humiliating loss to the Indians, Football Association of Thailand (FAT) Somyot Poompunmuang sacked national team coach Milovan Rajevac and handed his job to Sirisak in a caretaker capacity.
The Thais are now in dire need of a good result against Bahrain to revive their campaign for a place in the 16-team knockout phase of the tournament. They are scheduled to take on the UAE in their last Group A game on Monday.
The top two teams in each of the six groups and four best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Former Thai Honda coach Sirisak admitted that members of the Thai squad had been tensed since their shock defeat in the first game and the subsequent sacking of Serbia's Rajevac whose War Elephants crashed out in the Suzuki Cup semi-finals last month.
Thailand interim coach Sirisak Yodyardthai, right, talks to his players during a training session in Dubai.
"We have to do our best in the second game against Bahrain," said Sirisak.
"The team have already been through a lot of stress and we are trying to lift their spirits.
"We will try to play entertaining football for the sake of Thai people.
"In this [second] game, nothing but a win will do. If we want to qualify for the knockout stage, then we would have to fight for a win."
The Thai team have been offered a cash incentive as well for their two remaining matches based on a victory margin. A one-goal win will be worth five million baht, whereas a triumph by a two-goal margin will earn the squad 10 million baht and so on.
Meanwhile, Thailand midfielder Thitiphan Puangjan said the players are aware of what needs to be done in the crucial battle with Bahrain.
"Every player knows his duty and what he is supposed to do in this match," said Thitiphan.
"Everyone is ready and looking forward to the game. We hope to pick up points from our both remaining matches."
The defensive midfielder added: "We lost the first match but we still have a chance to make it through to the second round.
"We have two games left against Bahrain and the UAE and we need to get good results in both matches. I think we can do it.
"The most important thing for us would be to stay motivated throughout these matches. We have learned some lessons from our loss in the first game.
"There are many things that need improvement -- our offence and defence, our ability to stay focused all need improvements. I think we will come back stronger.
"We realise that it will be a tough game with Bahrain. They played very well against the UAE the other day. We have studied their weak points. Hopefully we will be able to exploit those weaknesses and claim three points from the match."
FAT chief Somyot yesterday said in Dubai that Rajevac's contract was terminated on Sunday in accordance with a clause that "allows us to sack him immediately in a case of an unsatisfactory result".
"There are no internal conflict in the team," Somyot said.
"The competition is not finished yet and we have to continue our work. We will try to do our best with the people [coaching staff] we have.
"During training, every player looked very well and I think they are ready to do their duty for the country. They all seem to be very keen on having good results in the two remaining matches."
Somyot said the FAT has criteria and a limited budget to appoint a new full-time coach for the national team.
"This would have to wait for some time," said Somyot, who is facing growing calls from Thai fans for his resignation.
