AFF Cup 2024, Thailand – Cambodia team: Hard to create miracles

* PRE-MATCH COMMENTARY

After an impressive comeback right on Singapore’s field, the Thai team won all 3 matches, ensuring their place in the semi-finals one match early. Notably, coach Masatada Ishii’s team scored 15 goals and conceded only 3 times, much better in terms of secondary stats than all the teams present in the AFF Cup 2024. Thailand still proves itself to be the candidate. No. 1 candidate for the championship title and firmly holding the top spot in Group A. Therefore, entering the match with Cambodia, “War Elephants” had an extremely comfortable mentality. Even after the match against Singapore, coach Masatada Ishii also agreed to let three important players, Suphanat Mueanta, Seksan Ratree, Pansa Hemviboon (all playing for the parent club Buriram United) temporarily leave the team. Experts say that this is the right time for coach Masatada Ishii to plan for the semi-finals, giving a chance to play to a group of players who have rarely played since the beginning of the tournament.

On the contrary, the Cambodian team’s spirit is very high after their 2-1 home win over Timor Leste. Currently, the Cambodian team has 4 points, ranked 3rd and 2 points behind the 2nd ranked team, Singapore. In theory, coach Gyotoku Koji and his team still have a chance to advance if they win right away on Thailand’s field. At the same time, Cambodia still has to wait for luck on the results in the match between Malaysia and Singapore (Malaysia must win against Singapore and have a lower score than Cambodia for coach Gyotoku Koji’s team to win the right to continue).

However, it is difficult for Cambodia to create a “miracle” at Thailand’s Rajamangala stadium. Since 1974, Cambodia met Thailand 5 times and never won (4 losses, 1 draw). Even in these 5 matches, Cambodia only scored 3 goals but conceded 19 times.

At the same time, in terms of squad quality, Cambodia is almost impossible to compare with Thailand. In the next match, Cambodia will continue to be without the services of captain Kan Mo due to his injury. In addition, a naturalized player who plays an important role in the midfield, Ogawa (Japanese origin), received a suspension for receiving 2 yellow cards.

During the press conference on December 19, coach Gyotoku Koji expressed concern: “After what Thailand has shown, it can be confirmed that Cambodia will face the ultimate challenge in the next match. Thailand is the strongest team in Southeast Asia, on a different level than us. All players in Thailand have good technique, creating a cohesive team. That’s why it’s difficult for Cambodia to kill any star. However, in this match we need 3 points and all players come out with the determination to win.”