Overseas players core of Thailand squad in U23 Asian Cup

On the official squad list for U23 Asian Cup, Thailand called up nine players that are playing outside of Thai League, including Thanawat Suengchitthawon, Ben Davis (England), Jonathan Khemdee, Nicholas Mickelson (Denmark), Yannick Nussbaum (Switzerland), Channarong Promsrikaew (Spain), Chayapipat Supunpasuch (Portugal), Achitpol Keereerom (Germany) and Sittichok Paso (Japan).

Like Thailand, Australia also have nine players in Europe.

Vietnam are one of the five teams that don’t have any overseas players, next to Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Uzbekistan, the host of the U23 Asian Cup this year, and Japan sent their U21 team to the tournament. They want the young players to accumulate experience and aim for a further goal, which is the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, a qualifier for the Olympics.

In U23 Asian Cup, Thailand will be coached by Worrawoot Srimaka. In SEA Games 31, national team coach Mano Polking took over the U23 team with the target of helping Thailand claim the gold medal, but they lost 0-1 to Vietnam in the final.

The 2022 U23 Asian Cup will take place in Uzbekistan from June 1 to 19. In this tournament, Thailand are in group C with Vietnam, South Korea and Malaysia. They will face Vietnam in the opening game on June 2.