Winfried Schaefer is on the verge of losing his job as Thailand’s national football coach after his team lost 5-2 to Lebanon in their second Asian Cup qualifying game. Thailand traveled to Beirut needing a win after they lost their opening Asian Cup qualifying game 3-1 to Kuwait.
Lebanon were a 3-0 up by halftime with goals from Hassan Chaito after six and 22 minutes and Mohamad Haidar in the 31st minute.
Thai superstar Teerasil Dangda cut the deficit to 3-1 four minutes after the interval only for Hassan Maatouk to restore a three-goal lead for the hosts in the 73rd minute. Thitiphan Puangjan reduced the gap to 4-2 after 86 minutes but Abbas Atwi made it 5-2 shortly after that.
Schaefer admitted after the game that his team underperformed.
“We had a bad performance tonight and the result was bad as well. We made several mistakes in the first half and we gave chances to Lebanon to have a good lead while we couldn’t come back after these three goals. We could have scored more goals in the second half but Lebanon’s fourth goal killed off us. We played against a good side while our team was composed of several young players and we are looking to give them more experience for the future,” Schaefer told the Bangkok Post.
A number of key Thai players pulled out of the game citing injury.
Thailand are bottom of Group B, while Lebanon have three points. Iran and Kuwait, who have three points each, will meet on Tuesday.
The top two teams from each of the five qualifying groups plus the best third-placed side advance to the 2015 finals in Australia.
Thailand travels to Iran for their next Asia Cup qualifier.
