Thai press: U23 Thailand is better than U23 Vietnam

Regarding the U23 Thailand performance in AFC U23 Championship 2020, thai press stated Akira Nishino did very well. The SMM Sports even evaluated,

“Before the tournament, U23 Thailand was criticized with their poor performance in SEA Games, especially when their rival Vietnam crowns the championship,” SMM Sports wrote.

“However, Akira Nishino and U23 Thailand made history by winning Bahrain 5-0, losing 1-2 to Australia and drawing Iraq 1-1, then helping Thailand to the quarter finals.  Luck was not on our side though, losing 0-1 to Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals. This comes from the wrong decisions of Oman referees and VAR.

Overall, U23 Thailand did not perform badly. Being in the top 8 is a huge success. And if compared with the number 1 opponent in Southeast Asia U23 Vietnam, U23 Thailand is a lot better. Because Vietnam was eliminated from the group stage without any victory,” added SMM Sports.

At AFC U23 Championship 2020, U23 Thailand won 2nd place in Group A and went on with 4 points. While U23 Vietnam drew UAE, Jordan and lost to Korea, thereby finishing at the bottom of Group D with only 2 points.

Nishino said: "Thailand U23 has had an impressive development. I met the players here from the SEA Games, at that time many people were still less-capped. Each player had good individual technique, working together as a team, the most improvement is confidence, we dare to play in our own style no matter who the opponent is, whether strong, like Bahrain, Iraq or Australia, we still move on.”