Thais girded for mighty Germans

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This article was published 15/06/2015 (4066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THEY’RE first-timers at the Women’s World Cup, so there were limited promises from Thailand Sunday ahead of today’s Group D match at Investors Group Field against the powerful Germans.

“We didn’t bring fear with us in our baggage when we came from Thailand,” manager Neungrutai Srathongvian said Sunday. “We brought determination and pride. Of course, we’ll be taking that with us tomorrow. So we are just proud to be up against the No. 1 team in the world. As for creating some historic event, we’ll just take our chances and see.”

Thailand captain Duangnapa Sritala said her team will do its utmost against the world’s top-ranked team.

“We are rather proud actually that we get a chance to play against the No. 1 team in the world,” Sritala said. “And therefore we’re just going to give it our best shot and hope to come away with a point.

“We’re eager to show that we can do that and come (today) and see what happens.”

So far in their first World Cup, Thailand has a 4-0 loss to Norway and a 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast. If there were some kind of historic point or points gained today, Thailand would have a chance to advance to the Group of 16.

Asked Sunday if they were emboldened to feel better about their chances against Germany considering fourth-ranked France lost to Colombia Saturday, Srathongvian sounded somewhat optimistic.

“We learned teams that prepare well and do as much training as possible are able to beat better teams,” she said. “We also learned there are different ways of playing and that one way for all teams doesn’t work.

“In fact, (that) match shows that football is an enchanting sport. It’s more appealing now because of such a result and we hope that because of the pride we have in coming here and competing at this level, we will do again better than we expected.”

Srathongvian conceded her players, as a group, will be the second-tallest on the pitch today.

“Our main deficiency is our lack of physical stature, namely, we’re smaller and basically shorter than the European teams,” the manager said. “Besides that, Germany is one of the top European teams with loads of experience and talent and professional skill and a clear game plan.

“We also lack experience. Our main experience to date has been at the Asian level. We’re meeting teams who are much more professionally organized and have better game plans. Therefore, in the first 15 minutes of our game (today), we’re going to be trying to launch a very strong defence and looking for chances to counterattack.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca