Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Thailand coach Zoran Jankovic will ask his players to raise their standard of play to a new level when they travel to China in January to take on the continent’s best at the AFC U23 Championship.
The Thais go into the tournament as the reigning SEA Games gold medallists after continuing the nation’s dominance at regional level, but Jankovic is hoping his team can build on the title-winning performance in Malaysia and make an impact on the continental scene.
“These players are a good generation and we hope to show the best we can,” the former Bulgaria international striker told the-AFC.com.
“We’ll try to fight. This team won at the SEA Games in Malaysia in August, but this is different.
"If you compare the teams in Asia, it’s different. It’s a different style, the players have different bodies. Everything is different.
“That’s one part of this, but we have the best players here. They need to go up: it’s like playing on a Playstation, they need to go up to the next level. They must go up.
“This is the future of Thailand. For me, now, we have a very big group of players who can be a big part of the future for the country.”
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/thaiu23_squad.html
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/thaiu23_action1.html
